South Gate Lodge

South Gate Lodge is a Romanesque Revival structure near the southern entrance to Tower Grove Park. Originally, this was the pedestrian entrance to the park from Arsenal Street. The lodge was designed by the St. Louis architect George I. Barnett in the style of an Italian villa. Along with the south gate, it was built from limestone in 1888. Nearly a century later, it was restored as the park's headquarters in 1978. Today, it is home to ArtScope, an organization that provides educational opportunities for youths.

The South Gate Lodge was the final major structure constructed under the supervision of Henry Shaw, founder of Tower Gate Park. Built from rough limestone, the lodge was designed in an Italian villa style with an off-center tower and hip-roofed porches. Also characteristic of Romanesque Revival architecture, the lodge features rough-cut granite porch columns and two-tone stone masonry. Above the tower, there is a bell-shaped green metal roof which draws the eye upwards.

Near the lodge is a gate comprised of limestone pillars with an ornamental wrought iron railing. The gate was designed in the monumental style, which was popular in the late nineteenth century. Although the south gate was originally intended as a pedestrian entrance, over time it became a busy thoroughfare for horse-drawn carriages, and later, for automobiles. The south gate on Arsenal Street was built in a complementary fashion to the north gate on Magnolia Avenue.

Tower Grove Park was designated as a National Historic Landmark in 1989. Along with several of the other Victorian-era buildings at the park, the South Gate Lodge is considered one of the contributing historic structures. At the time of the park's construction, it was described as "one of the most beautifully artistic and classically adorned places of its kind, of such limited area, that any city in the land can boast of."

Nomination Form - National Register of Historic Places, NPS. Accessed November 9th, 2022. https://preview.catalog.archives.gov/id/63818182.

Entrances, Tower Grove Park. Accessed November 9th, 2022. https://www.towergrovepark.org/entrances1.

Southeast Corner in Foreground - Tower Grove Park - South Gate, LOC. Accessed November 9th, 2022. https://www.loc.gov/resource/hhh.mo0383.photos/.