FEATURED COLLECTION · 248 ITEMS
Mill Creek Valley Photographs
The single largest visual record of Mill Creek Valley between 1945 and the 1959 demolition. Two photographers, two donor estates, one curated set built in partnership with the African American History Initiative.
Curator: Gwen Moore
4 records
Curator's picks this season
What the curatorial team is showing off this quarter — across all three buildings.
- [RECORD · B&W 4×5 PRINT · CORNER STORE WITH HAND-PAINTED SIGNAGE]PhotographFEATURED
ca. 1955
Mill Creek Valley Corner Store, Lawton at Compton
Sievers Collection
- [RECORD · CABINET CARD · CARTER FAMILY, ca. 1912]Photograph
ca. 1912
Carter Family Studio Portrait
Polk-Stuart Collection
- [RECORD · MANUSCRIPT LETTER · CLARK TO LEWIS, MARCH 1804]ManuscriptFEATURED
March 28, 1804
William Clark Letter to Meriwether Lewis
Lewis & Clark Papers
- [RECORD · COLOR LITHOGRAPH MAP · SANBORN PLATE 14, 1909]Map
1909
Sanborn Fire Insurance Map: Mill Creek Valley, Plate 14
St. Louis Maps Collection
4 records
Recently digitized
The newest additions from the Library's ongoing scanning program.
- [RECORD · B&W PRINT · WRECKING CREW, 2900 BLOCK WALNUT]Photograph
April 1959
Demolition of 2900 Block, Walnut Street
Sievers Collection
- [RECORD · B&W WIRE-PHOTO · STAN MUSIAL AT BAT, 1954]Photograph
May 13, 1954
Stan Musial at Bat, Sportsman's Park
Cardinals Baseball Collection
- [RECORD · ORAL HISTORY · MRS. WATKINS ON MILL CREEK]Oral History
Recorded March 12, 2022
Oral History Interview: Mrs. Eleanor Watkins on Mill Creek
AAHI Oral Histories
- [RECORD · CONTRIBUTED PHOTO · CHALK RAINBOW SIGN, APRIL 2020]Photograph
April 11, 2020
Chalk Sign on Bevo Mill Neighborhood Sidewalk
Stories of the Pandemic
6 records
From the Mill Creek thread
248 photographs, oral histories, Sanborn maps, and program records — the deepest visual record of the neighborhood.
- [RECORD · B&W 4×5 PRINT · CORNER STORE WITH HAND-PAINTED SIGNAGE]PhotographFEATURED
ca. 1955
Mill Creek Valley Corner Store, Lawton at Compton
Sievers Collection
- [RECORD · B&W PRINT · CHILDREN JUMP-ROPE, CAROLINE STREET]Photograph
1956
Children Playing on Caroline Street, Mill Creek Valley
Sievers Collection
- [RECORD · B&W PRINT · WRECKING CREW, 2900 BLOCK WALNUT]Photograph
April 1959
Demolition of 2900 Block, Walnut Street
Sievers Collection
- [RECORD · B&W PRINT · CHURCH CONGREGATION, ANNIVERSARY]Photograph
1957
Pine Street Baptist Church Anniversary
Sievers Collection
- [RECORD · ORAL HISTORY · MRS. WATKINS ON MILL CREEK]Oral History
Recorded March 12, 2022
Oral History Interview: Mrs. Eleanor Watkins on Mill Creek
AAHI Oral Histories
- [RECORD · COLOR LITHOGRAPH MAP · SANBORN PLATE 14, 1909]Map
1909
Sanborn Fire Insurance Map: Mill Creek Valley, Plate 14
St. Louis Maps Collection
9 records
Photographs
The largest regional photo archive in the Midwest. Sievers, Polk-Stuart, Massie, and the press collections.
- [RECORD · B&W 4×5 PRINT · CORNER STORE WITH HAND-PAINTED SIGNAGE]PhotographFEATURED
ca. 1955
Mill Creek Valley Corner Store, Lawton at Compton
Sievers Collection
- [RECORD · B&W PRINT · CHILDREN JUMP-ROPE, CAROLINE STREET]Photograph
1956
Children Playing on Caroline Street, Mill Creek Valley
Sievers Collection
- [RECORD · B&W PRINT · WRECKING CREW, 2900 BLOCK WALNUT]Photograph
April 1959
Demolition of 2900 Block, Walnut Street
Sievers Collection
- [RECORD · B&W PRINT · CHURCH CONGREGATION, ANNIVERSARY]Photograph
1957
Pine Street Baptist Church Anniversary
Sievers Collection
- [RECORD · CABINET CARD · CARTER FAMILY, ca. 1912]Photograph
ca. 1912
Carter Family Studio Portrait
Polk-Stuart Collection
- [RECORD · ALBUMEN CABINET CARD · WEDDING PORTRAIT, 1898]Photograph
1898
Hubel-Schwarz Wedding Portrait
Polk-Stuart Collection
- [RECORD · ALBUMEN PANORAMA · PALACE OF AGRICULTURE]PhotographFEATURED
1904
Palace of Agriculture, 1904 World's Fair
Louisiana Purchase Exposition Photographs
- [RECORD · B&W WIRE-PHOTO · STAN MUSIAL AT BAT, 1954]Photograph
May 13, 1954
Stan Musial at Bat, Sportsman's Park
Cardinals Baseball Collection
- [RECORD · CONTRIBUTED PHOTO · CHALK RAINBOW SIGN, APRIL 2020]Photograph
April 11, 2020
Chalk Sign on Bevo Mill Neighborhood Sidewalk
Stories of the Pandemic
3 records
Manuscripts & correspondence
Letters, ledgers, journals — the documentary substance of the city.
- [RECORD · MANUSCRIPT LETTER · CLARK TO LEWIS, MARCH 1804]ManuscriptFEATURED
March 28, 1804
William Clark Letter to Meriwether Lewis
Lewis & Clark Papers
- [RECORD · MANUSCRIPT LETTER · SAIGON TO ST. LOUIS, OCT 1968]ManuscriptFEATURED
October 14, 1968
Letter from Pvt. James Coleman to Mother, Saigon
Vietnam-Era Correspondence
- [RECORD · INDEX CARD · HAYDEN, JONNIE · 1930]Document
April 22, 1930
Card Index Entry for Hayden, Jonnie
Washington Park Cemetery Card Index
3 records
Maps & cartography
Plat maps, Sanborn fire-insurance atlases, transit maps, hand-drawn neighborhood maps — 1764 to present.
- [RECORD · LITHOGRAPH MAP · LPE GROUNDS, 1904]Map
1904
Map of the Louisiana Purchase Exposition Grounds
St. Louis Maps Collection
- [RECORD · COLOR LITHOGRAPH MAP · SANBORN PLATE 14, 1909]Map
1909
Sanborn Fire Insurance Map: Mill Creek Valley, Plate 14
St. Louis Maps Collection
- [RECORD · HAND-COLORED LITHOGRAPH · 1875 PLAT OF ST. LOUIS]Map
1875
Plat Map of the City of St. Louis
St. Louis Maps Collection
1 records
Audio & oral history
Recorded conversations with the people whose lives the rest of the collection describes.
2 records
Ephemera
Programs, postcards, broadsides, scorecards, ticket stubs. The paper of everyday St. Louis.
CURATED SETS · 9 ACTIVE
Editor-built groupings.
Sets are curator-defined groupings within the archive — a way for the people who work with the collection every day to surface what's most worth looking at right now.
248 items
Mill Creek Valley Photographs
248 images of the bulldozed Black neighborhood — Sievers and Polk-Stuart collections combined.
1,812 items
1904 World's Fair
Postcards, official photography, and family snapshots from the Louisiana Purchase Exposition.
642 items
St. Louis Cardinals Baseball
Game programs, scorecards, photographs, and front-office papers, 1882–present.
89 items
Lewis & Clark Papers
Manuscripts, maps, and field-journal facsimiles related to the Corps of Discovery's St. Louis years.
1,437 items
Polk-Stuart Family Portraits
Studio photography of St. Louis families — Black, white, immigrant, lifelong — 1885 through 1928.
12,489 items
Washington Park Cemetery Card Index
12,400+ name-index entries from the Black cemetery operated 1920–1989 in Berkeley, MO.
327 items
Vietnam-Era Correspondence
Letters between St. Louis families and their soldiers serving in Vietnam, 1963–1975.
1,284 items
St. Louis Maps & Cartography
Plat maps, Sanborn fire-insurance atlases, transit maps, and hand-drawn neighborhood maps, 1764–present.
891 items
Stories of the Pandemic
Diaries, signs, masks, photographs, and audio recordings from St. Louisans living through COVID-19.
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