Description

Another of St. Louis' spectacular 19th-century residential developments, Compton Heights was planned for an area of the city that, in St. Louis' earliest days, was set aside for livestock grazing. By the end of the Civil War, residential development was starting to take place; Compton Heights began development in 1888, and was soon to be inhabited by many of St. Louis' wealthy German families. With romantically curving streets (Longfellow and Hawthorne Boulevards) at its center, the neighborhood today looks like a Germanic-inspired fairyland of huge, imposing houses, spectacular brickwork and turrets, and other fascinating architectural details.