Benton Park, St. Louis

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Location of Benton Park within St. Louis.
Location of Benton Park within St. Louis.

Benton Park is a neighborhood in eastern St. Louis, just west of Soulard. The official boundaries of the area are Gravois Avenue on the north, Cherokee Street on the south, I-55 on the east, and Jefferson Avenue on the west.[1]

The area now comprising Benton Park was first used as the City Cemetery. The bodies from the cemetery were moved in 1865, and the neighborhood was created on June 25, 1866 by city ordinance.[2] The neighborhood was later renamed after Thomas Hart Benton, a U.S. Senator from Missouri. As the neighborhood grew, it attracted several breweries due to its location above a system of caves that were ideal for beer storage. The most noteworthy of these was the Lemp Brewery, which still stands today, although is no longer in use.[3]

As of the census of 2000, there were 3,965 people, 1,755 households, and 858 families residing in the neighborhood, which contained 2,377 housing units. The racial makeup of the neighborhood was 55.64% White, 39.80% African American, 0.50% Native American, 0.45% Asian, 0.23% Pacific Islander, 1.19% from other races, and 2.19% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 3.25% of the population.[4]

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