History of Compton Hill Reservoir Square Neighborhood

1870s-1920s

When Grand Avenue was first constructed, it was a just dirt road between empty fields marking the western edge of St. Louis City. It ran by the highest point within the City, Compton Hill. After the Civil War, a new water system was planned for the burgeoning town, taking advantage of the altitude at Compton Hill. By 1871, at a cost of nearly $300,000, the reservoir was completed and 56 million gallons of water flowed from the settling basins in the Mississippi River into the large, single tank on the hill. The water works depended on giant pumps to send water to residents’ homes, causing uneven knocking and clanging. To resolve the knocking issue, water towers, actually giant surge protectors, were developed as part of the water distribution system, and the Compton Hill Water Tower was built in 1898.  The City of St. Louis built and maintained the park, which houses Compton Hill Water Tower and its reservoir, to meet its growing population’s demand for water and recreational green space.

At the corner of current Compton and Lafayette Avenues stood the farmstead of Captain James Roe. It was a large estate, with grape vines, orchards, a grand home, out buildings and open land. The pastures to the south of the estate drew speculators, who laid out the plat for today’s Reservoir Square neighborhood on the eastern border of the Compton Hill Reservoir. Most of those structures standing today were built between 1880 and 1920. Nothing remains of the original farm.

During the early boom years, the residents of this small community benefitted from the Reservoir as a neighbor. In those years, the City Water Department kept the surrounding acreage cultivated as a Victorian walking park with lily ponds and statuary, a popular place for Sunday afternoon outings. One day in 1904, in fact, drew a record 5,000 visitors to view the City from the water tower’s observation deck. 

1940s-1960s

After WWII, times changed. Unfortunately, not only did the exodus from the City into the suburbs in the 1950s and 60s impact Reservoir Square, but the construction in the 1960s of Interstate 44 tore this neighborhood apart. It cut right through Copelin Place, the northern border of Reservoir Square.  Where once had been a quiet street lined with gracious Victorian homes, now roared the highway.  With the interstate next door, many City residents simply abandoned their homes. Elegant mansions were carved into rooming houses or torn down to put up modern apartment buildings. Small bungalows appeared as in-fill. Repairs happened less often with rentals and the once-charming community grew shabby and rough.

1970s

In the 1970s, a new energy for City life emerged. Eager for cheap housing with “strong bones,” rehabbers began staking their claims in the vast offerings of well-built houses. Pioneers bought onto trashed blocks with spurious neighbors, bringing with them smarts, drive, enthusiasm and some money. The mood began to change. Before long, the new residents all over the City began to work together. Compton Hill held its first organizational meeting in 1974. Two years later, the first official Compton Hill Reservoir Square Residents Association meeting convened, with election of officers and a treasury of $27.33. In 1979, the Compton Hill Historic District – comprised of Compton Heights, Compton Hill Reservoir Square and part of the Tower Grove East neighborhoods – became a Certified Local Historic District.  Living under these historic guidelines helped protect the architectural integrity of the old homes and preserve what remained of the grand days.