Cherokee-Lemp Historic District (History Walk Sign)

The sign that appears at the corner of Cherokee Street and South Jefferson Avenue is the first in series of mini-histories called "If These Walls Could Talk? They Can." The mini-histories are each mounted onto various exterior walls, windows, and fences at forty-three separate locations within the Cherokee-Lemp Historical District. Covering a two-hundred year timespan that includes the construction of the elegant homes on DeMenil Place, the Victorian townhouses and storefronts on Cherokee Street, the early twentieth-century economic boom, the Great Depression in the 1930s, the post World War II era, and the changing population in the 1950s, the mini-histories reflect the complex commercial and residential history of the neighborhood. NiNi Harris created the signs for the "If These Walls Could Talk? They Can" project, which was sponsored in part by the City of St. Louis.

The first sign in the "If These Walls Could Talk? They Can" series was installed at this location within the Cherokee-Lemp Historic District. It is near the corner of Cherokee Street and South Jefferson Avenue (when traveling east on Cherokee Street). There is also a duplicate of this sign installed at a second location (the intersection at the corner of Cherokee Street and DeMenil Place) for those who might be approaching from a different direction. NiNi Harris created the "If These Walls Could Talk" project, which was sponsored by the City of St. Louis, the Cherokee-Lemp Special Business District, and the 9th Ward Alderman Ken Ortmann.

The signs that are part of the project share interesting aspects of the social and economic history of the neighborhood during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. As stated on the first sign, the goal of the project is to "tell the stories of the early settlers of this area, about the craftsmen who built these homes, about the people who lived and shopped here during World War I and during the Great Depression, and about the children who played here during the 1950's." In addition to highlighting Cherokee Street's Victorian-era storefronts and apartments constructed by German immigrants in the late 1800s and early 1900s, the signs also discuss the "grand homes" inhabited by wealthy residents on DeMenil Place.

While sharing everyday details about life within the neighborhood, the signs describe how people shoveled coal into their stoves to heat their homes and relied on outhouses behind the buildings. One sign notes that in 1907, a storefront was converted into the neighborhood's first Nickelodeon, a movie theater where spectators paid a nickel to watch a thirty-five minute silent motion picture. Then in 1909, a motion picture tent was set up outdoors in a vacant lot on Cherokee Street. For a ten-cent admission fee, people who lived in the apartments nearby could gather under the tent to watch silent films in black and white. The sign discussing the neighborhood's first Nickelodeon is mounted on the building at the corner of Cherokee Street and South Jefferson Avenue, just a few steps from the first sign in the series.

Another sign within the series discusses the hard times and economic anxiety that gripped America during the Great Depression. It details the run on banks that occurred in January 1933, with so many people attempting to withdraw money from banks throughout the city that most banking establishments were forced to close their doors. Due to the extreme economic instability, people were often terrified to open up their local newspaper in the morning for fear of learning they had lost all of their savings overnight because of the latest run on banks. The sign with this mini-history is located on Cherokee Street west of Wisconsin Avenue. It will appear to the right when approaching from the east.

The "If These Walls Could Talk?" series encompasses a range of human experiences throughout two centuries of history in the Cherokee-Lemp Historic District. During the 1890s, Cherokee Street acquired greater commercial significance due to the addition of electric streetcar lines. This new form of transportation brought visitors in from other parts of the city, raising the economic profile of the neighborhood. By 1912, this commercial area included barber shops, tailors, cleaners, seamstresses, millinery shops, jewelers, shoe stores, grocers, pharmacies, dry goods stores, bakeries, confectioners, and many other shops and professions along Cherokee Street. Almost a century later, the Cherokee-Lemp Historic District was designated as a city historic district in 1980.

Jones, Devry Becker. If These Walls Could Talk? They Can., Hmdb. May 1st, 2020. Accessed December 7th, 2022. https://www.hmdb.org/m.asp?m=124467.

Jones, Devry Becker. 2014 Cherokee Moving Picture Tent, Hmdb. October 9th, 2018. Accessed December 8th, 2022. https://www.hmdb.org/m.asp?m=124505.

Jones, Devry Becker. 2008 Cherokee Hard Times - 1933, Hmdb. October 9th, 2018. Accessed December 8th, 2022. https://www.hmdb.org/m.asp?m=124506.

CHEROKEE‐LEMP BREWERY HISTORIC DISTRICT Ordinance 59836 (Board Bill No. 479), City of St. Louis, MO. Accessed December 8th, 2022. https://www.stlouis-mo.gov/government/departments/planning/cultural-resources/documents/upload/Cheokee-Lemp-Brewery-Historic-District-Ordinance.pdf.

Jones, Devry Becker. 2315-17 Cherokee The Roaring Twenties, Hmdb. October 9th, 2018. Accessed December 8th, 2022. https://www.hmdb.org/m.asp?m=124470.

Jones, Devry Becker. The First Nickelodeon, Hmdb. October 9th, 2018. Accessed December 8th, 2022. https://www.hmdb.org/m.asp?m=124468.