The Midtown Neighborhood is just that, located right in the middle of the City of St Louis. The borders of the neighborhood are Jefferson Avenue to the east, Chouteau Avenue to the south and Vandeventer to the west. The northern borders of the neighborhood are Lindell Blvd and Olive then via Compton to Delmar to complete the border. The surrounding neighborhoods are the Downtown West Neighborhood to the east, the JeffVanderLou and the Covenant Blu/Grand Center neighborhoods to the north, the Central West End Neighborhood to the west and the Botanical Heights/McRee Town Neighborhood, Tiffany and The Gate District neighborhoods to the south.
The majority of the neighborhood is mostly non-residential. Light industry and businesses are located south of Interstate 64. Goodwill has an outlet facility there in the 20,000 square foot old Famous-Barr warehouse which makes it the largest Goodwill Outlet Store location in the nation! The old National Guard Armory on Market lies along Interstate 64 and is unfortunantly vacant. The railroad tracks run through the Midtown south of I-64, as well as the tracks for the MetroLink Light Rail system. The Grand MetroLink Station is located near the intersection of Scott Ave and South Grand. It is between the Union Station MetroLink Station to the east and the Central West End MetroLink Station to the west near Barnes-Jewish Hospital.
North of Interstate 64, two university are also located in the neighborhood and comprises another large porition of the area. Saint Louis University, or SLU for short, falls between Vandeventer and Compton, and Laclede and Lindell Blvd. SLU is a four year, private Catholic school. The second univeristy is Harris-Stowe State University which is located just across Compton from SLU on Laclede and is a four year school, as well.
Those families with school age children who do live in the Midtown Neighborhood are served by the St. Louis Public School District. The district does not have any schools within the boundaries of Midtown, but has several in nearby neighborhoods. Two schools are in The Gate District Neighborhood, Hodgen Elementary and International Welcome Elementary schools. Clyde C. Miller Career Academy High School is in the Covenant Blu-Grand Center Neighborhood. Metro Academic and Classical High School, a Magnet School with the specialty of "General Academics," and the Stix Early Childhood Center Elementary School, a Magnet School for Preschool through 2nd grade, are two schools found in the Central West End Neighborhood.
The headquarters for the St. Louis Public Library is on Olive Street in the Downtown West Neighborhood and is the closest to the residents of Midtown. It was built in 1901, the first library of six that were built with the funds that Andrew Carnagie donated for that purpose with the stipulation that the libraries would always be free and open to the public. There are now 15 branch libraries throughout the city.
Midtown is said to be the "Geographical Center" of the City of St. Louis, thus the name! Several historic landmarks are found in Midtown. The National Register of Historic Places designated "Midtown District" lies on both sides of Lindell Blvd between Grand and Vandeventer and extends north along both sides of Grand to Delmar. Within that district, and in the Midtown Neighborhood, are the historic Samuel Cupples House and the St. Fracis Xavier "College Church", both on the SLU campus. Another historic landmarks is an unassuming brick flat located on Delmar that was the home that Scott Joplin, the "King of Ragtime," brought his new bride to in 1900 when he moved to St. Louis. It is now is the "Scott Joplin House State Historic Site." The other landmark is the Phyllis Wheatley Branch YWCA. This building on Locust Street was the home of an African-American branch of the YWCA, founded in 1911 and the first of its kind in St. Louis.
Saint Louis University Link
Saint Louis University athletic fields Link
Harris-Stowe University Link
Saint Louis University Link
Chaifetz Arena on the St Louis University campus Link
The Historic Samuel Cupples House Museum Link
Harris-Stowe University Link
Scott Joplin House State Historic Site Link