St. Louis, It's A Wonderful City!

The intent of this project is not to change the actual name of any street, but to add attractive commemorative street signs that will remind everyone of St. Louis' French history.

Currently, no signage in St. Louis indicates the original French-language street names.

Design Features of the Proposed Sign

The above image shows a prototype design for the commemorative sign for Rue de la Tour (now Walnut Street). The sign has in part a blue background because that is the background color used on most of the other honorary/commemorative street signs in the City of St. Louis.  The official signs which state the actual street name use a green background.  The blue background was used also because blue was one of the royal colors of the French monarchy at the time of the founding of St. Louis. The other French royal color, gold, is also used on the sign.

The sign includes the 1764 date of the founding St. Louis because there does not seem to be any major signage in downtown St. Louis that shows that date. Many visitors and many St. Louisans tend to forget that our city predates the American Revolution and is one of the oldest cities in America. The timeline in the museum under the Arch begins only with the year 1800.

The prototype sign design includes the date on which the street names were changed. By showing both the founding date, 1764, and the 1826 date when the current English-language street names were established, everyone will be reminded that St. Louis really was a French town, even for many years after St. Louis became U.S. territory in 1804.

To make clear that this is a commemorative street sign, and not the actual, current street name, the words "Original Street Name" appear on the sign.  If the sign does not include the "Original Street Name" text (as shown above) and "Renamed Walnut St. in 1826" text (as shown above), the commemorative French-language signs might be confusing or perplexing to some. 

The font called "Garamond" was used for the text of the sign because it suggests an older era and expresses a bit of a bon vivant flair. 

Click Here To Read "Frequently Asked Questions" About The French Sign Project

Click Here to Read News Articles About The French Sign Project

Hon. Lewis E. Reed
President, St. Louis Board of Aldermen
City Hall, Room 230
1200 Market Street
St. Louis, MO 63103
314.622.4114
 

Hon. Phyllis Young
7th Ward Alderwoman
(Downtown St. Louis)
City Hall, Room 230
1200 Market Street
St. Louis, MO 63103
314.622.3287
 

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The Romance and Allure of the French Language

Everyone knows that the French language conveys class, sophistication, a cosmopolitan ambience, and a sense of fun.

It is not for nothing that even wines produced in the United States are generally labeled with French names such as pinot noir, which translated into English simply means "black pine cone." How much wine would be sold if wine producers used English translations of the names of the grape varieties? How much fun would it be to drink wine called black pine cone?

A closely related phenomenon is seen in the fact that today, thanks to Starbucks, virtually every American understands what an espresso is, and what a latte is. But how much money would the Starbucks investors have made if they'd used the English-language translations of those Italian words, which would be "pressed out" and "milk" respectively? Where would perfume companies be without French-language names for their products such as J'Adore and Eau Sauvage?

The fact is that English-speaking people are entranced, delighted and impressed by Romance language phrases, particularly French phrases.

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"History is not disembodied. The past is implicit in the  present, in each of us, and in the places we inhabit."   

Robert Archibald, president of the Missouri History Museum in St. Louis, and author of A Place To Remember: Using History To Build Community (1999) 

The Many Benefits of These Commemorative Signs

Here are some of the benefits of establishing commemorative street signs with the original French names in downtown St. Louis:

--Photos In Tourist Brochures. Various parties will be able to use these French language street signs in photos used to attract tourists. The City of New Orleans frequently uses photos of its French-language street signs in its brochures and web sites that promote tourism and economic development.

--Downtown Living. Make downtown St. Louis a more attractive place to live, work, play and shop.

--Pride. Help create increased pride in being a St. Louisan.

--Distinctiveness. Help distinguish St. Louis from other medium-sized midwestern cities which do not have a multi-national historical heritage, and which are not nearly as long-lived as St. Louis, which was born before the USA itself.

--The Danforth Foundation Plan. By reminding everyone that the Archgrounds constitute the precise site of the original village and town of St. Louis, help promote the plan, launched by Mayor Slay, Senator John Danforth, and Bob Archibald, to develop part of the Archgrounds into a more user-friendly park. These commemorative French street signs can serve to stake out St. Louis' "claim," so to speak, to develop a portion of the Archgrounds for enhanced recreational use.

--Fulfill Eero Saarinen's Plan. Help inspire the completion of Eero Saarinen's original plan for the Archgrounds, which called for:
-"a reconstructed French colonial village"
-"a long promenade"
-"a restaurant complex"
-"an amphitheater"
(Source: Landscaping The Gateway Arch Grounds, by Bob Moore, National Park Service historian, September 1995)

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 An early painting of St. Louis by John Caspar

St. Louis Really Was A French Town!

A book published in 1826 contained this statement:

"St. Louis, as you approach it, shows, like all the other French towns in this region, to much the greatest advantage at a distance. The French mode of building, and the white coat of lime applied to the mud or rough stone walls, give them a beauty at a distance...."

 Timothy Flint, Recollections of the Last Ten Years In The Valley of the Mississippi.

In the year 1800, a Kansas Indian chief who had taken the French name of Coeur Qui Brule, wrote to the lieutenant governor in St. Louis that "for a long time I have wanted to see the town" (depuis longtemps je désire voir la ville)  The chief recognized that St. Louis was a place of French manners and values, so he added that he did not want to visit merely to seek gifts, as some chiefs do.  On the contrary, he said, "I have the heart of a Frenchman" (j'ai le coeur d'un français)

The Old Cathedral in Downtown St. Louis has two large French-language inscriptions from 1834 on the front of the church. Both are Bible verses: 

   Ma maison sera appelée la maison de prière. 

  Voici le tabernacle de Dieu avec les hommes

            et il demeurera avec eux. 
 

For more of the French history of St. louis, click on this link to go the French St. Louis history page.

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