General Resources
Newspapers
- Saint Louis Post-Dispatch (1874 - 2003) This link opens in a new window
Contains full text of the newspaper St. Louis Post-Dispatch from 1874-2003 including its title variants. Learn more about this database
- Saint Louis Post-Dispatch (1981) - This link opens in a new window
Access is available through Factiva. Note: Limited to six concurrent users; please logout when finished.
e-Books
- Pictorial St. Louis, the great metropolis of the Mississippi valley; a topograhical survey drawn in perspective A.D. 1875,
View all 115 pages of maps online
Data Sources
- Social Explorer This link opens in a new window
A detailed reference tool for current and historical Census data from 1790 to 2000. Explore Census data visually through the use of interactive data maps and also browse and download Census data in convenient formats for offline processing. Learn more about this database.
Spring 2024 Community Highlight Resources
Below are some starting places for researching the history, geography, and environment of the St. Louis area
Benton Park
Additional Keywords to search: Chatillon-DeMenil Mansion, Lemp Brewery
- Digital Collections from Missouri Historical SocietySearch keyword: Benton Park
- Digital Resources from State Historical Society of MIssouri (SHSMO)Keyword: Benton Park
- Benton Park rehabbers seek historic credits
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St. Louis Business Journal, 2004, Vol.24 (35), p.30
Borrow from Library:
Rebuilding a place to live: a revitalization plan for Benton Park Historic District St. Louis, Missouri / by Chang, Hsiutzu Betty.Call Number: LD5791.8.MArch&UD2000 C53Publication Date: 2000Theses. Architecture.
This Used to Be St. Louis by Call Number: F474.S257 H35 2018ISBN: 9781681061139Publication Date: 2018- Lost caves of St. Louis by Call Number: GB605.M8 R68 1996Publication Date: 1996Cave maps -- A history of the Lemp Brewery -- Cherokee Cave : a rediscovery -- Uhrig's Cave -- Anheuser-Busch's Cave -- English Cave -- Smaller St. Louis breweries -- Sidney Street brewery caves -- Early lagering cellars -- St. Louis caves : lesser-known tales.
Cahokia Heights, IL
Alternate keywords: Centreville, Alorton, village of Cahokia, St. Clair County
- Illinois Digital Heritage HubKeyword searchable for cultural heritage resources from across Illinois, including many meto-east St. Louis communities.
Includes photographs, manuscripts / archival materials, books, maps, audio recordings, and videos. - Charting the American BottomEspecially relevant pages: http://theamericanbottom.org/alorton.html
http://theamericanbottom.org/itineraryTwo.html
http://theamericanbottom.org/cahokiaVillage.html - Common fields : an environmental history of St. Louis (Hurley 1997)"The Rise and Fall of Cahokia Mounds" (chapter starts on page 55) remember, this is about the mounds, not the city
Kinloch
Alternate Keywords: St. Louis County; Airport expansion; buyout
(Note: before the 1940s the St. Louis airport was called Kinloch Field, or Kinloch Park. Also one of the two telephone companies in St. Louis was called Kinloch. Keep these in mind when searching historic sources)
- Digital Resources from Missouri Historical SocietyKeyword Search: Kinloch
- Lee (1973) "The Other Mayor Lee: A Profile In Depth Of Kinloch, The All-Negro Community""Focus Midwest Vol. 5 No. 3, page 17-23, 34
Discovering African-American St. Louis : a guide to historic sites by Call Number: F474.S29 N485 1994See Chapter 7 for Kinloch- Wealth and reality in an all Black town: Kinloch, Missouri by
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Call Number: ebook (ProQuest Dissertations & Theses)Publication Date: 1999Thesis. 
St. Louis : disappearing Black communities by Call Number: ebookISBN: 9781439631539Publication Date: 2005
Borrow from Library:
Mill Creek Valley
Alternate keywords: St. Louis City, Laclede Town, Choteau’s Pond
- Decoding St. Louis: Spatial Stories in St. Louis’ Mill Creek ValleyEssays, primary source documents, and maps.
- Digital Collections Missouri Historical SocietyUse keyword: Mill Creek Valley
- Discovering African-American St. Louis : a guide to historic sites by Call Number: F474.S29 N485 1994Several copies may be checked out or view ebook https://archive.org/details/discoveringafric0000wrig
The Last Children of Mill Creek by Call Number: full text onlineISBN: 9781948742795Publication Date: 2020-04-20In this moving memoir, Gibson recreates the every day lived experiences of her family, including her college-educated mother, who moved to St. Louis as part of the Great Migration, her friends, shop owners, teachers, and others who made Mill Creek into a warm, tight-knit, African-American community, and reflects upon what it means that Mill Creek was destroyed by racism and "urban renewal."- The sequent occupance of Mill Creek Valley by
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Call Number: LD5791.8.AM47 H396 4oPublication Date: 1947digital copy of thesis is available
Borrow from Library:
- Mill Creek : guidelines for multi-use development byCall Number: LD5791.8 MArch&UD76 M45 (request from library)Publication Date: 1976thesis
Spanish Lake / Columbia Bottoms
Related Keywords: Riverview panhandle, St. Louis County
- Columbia Bottom Conservation Area Ten-Year Area Management Plan FY 2016 - 2025Published by: Missouri Department of Conservation
- Missouri Conservationist Magazine (1938-1997)
The Missouri Conservationist was first published in 1938 by the newly created Missouri Conservation Commission (now the governing body of The Missouri Department of Conservation). The magazine focuses on educating the general public on issues pertaining to Missouri's fish, forests and wildlife. Online 1995-present at https://mdc.mo.gov/magazines/missouri-conservationist/search
Mapping Decline: St. Louis and the Fate of the American City by - This link opens in a new window
Call Number: HN80.S2 G67 2008 (e-book)See page 200 for Spanish Lake
Borrow from Library:
- Spanish Lake: a film [videorecording] byCall Number: HT384.U52 S356 2014Publication Date: 2014DVD can be checked out from Olin LIbrary, Level B
- Toxic inequality : how America's wealth gap destroys mobility, deepens the racial divide, & threatens our future byCall Number: HC110.P6 S43 2017Publication Date: 2017See pages 76-78 for Spanish Lake.