A sprawling oasis near River Des Peres? A brewery cave underneath Benton Park? These are just a couple lesser-aspects of St. Louis city’s history a new speaker series seeks to uncover.
Founded by two local historians, Unseen STL History kicks off its monthly off-beat history talks Thursday, February 16, at Spine Indie Bookstore & Cafe (1976 Arsenal Street).
Unseen STL History was born after St. Louis-native and fiction writer Jackie Dana started digging into the history of various local sites as she searched for settings for her novels. In January, Dana heard casual talk about English Cave (a brewery cave that still remains under Spine Indie Bookstore and Benton Park) and thought, “Wouldn’t it be cool to be able to come to more of these talks,” Dana explained in a release.
Dana will be one of the series’ first speakers along with historian Amanda Clark, who founded the acclaimed Renegade Tours for unscripted and off-beat tours of St. Louis history in 2012. Renegade later moved to the Missouri History Museum; it’s now called See STL Tours.
During the first event, Clark will take attendees on a visual tour of nearly forgotten architecture and the stories behind them. Dana will delve into River Des Peres’ murky history, specifically where a “magical” sulfur spring lured city-dwellers near the current intersection of Hampton and Manchester — an oasis of “romantic woods and medicinal waters” in the mid-1800s.
Unseen STL History talks will take place every third Thursday at Spine Indie Bookstore. Each month will feature some of St. Louis’ most passionate history buffs and storytellers, with St. Louis Patina blogger Chris Naffziger and Historic Tales of St. Louis writer Mark Zeman slated to share stories at the second session.
Sessions are free and open to the public. Doors open at 6 p.m.
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