The Hill is a small Italian neighborhood on the south side of St. Louis, west of Kingshighway and north of I-44. Italian families started settling here in the 1880s. They came for clay mines, brick yards, and railroad jobs on the Frisco and Missouri-Pacific lines.
St. Ambrose opened a wooden church in 1903 so those families could go to Mass on the same blocks where they worked. The church burned in 1921. The parish rebuilt in brick, in a Lombard Romanesque style, and dedicated the new building in 1926. Families pledged a dollar a month for five years to pay for it. Their names are carved in marble inside.
In the early 1970s, sculptor Rudy Torrini's Italian Immigrants statue went up at Wilson and Marconi. People still give directions from that corner. Yogi Berra and Joe Garagiola grew up on these streets. The fire hydrants are painted green, white, and red.
The restaurants are why the rest of the metro drives in on Saturday. Gioia's Deli, Volpi, Cunetto's, and Favazza's sit within a few blocks of the church. You can walk from the grocer to dinner without moving the car. Lots are small. Many houses started as two-families. Alleys hold the garage and the extra car.
Dogtown sits just north of I-44, closer to Forest Park. Shaw and Tower Grove Park are a short drive east if you want a garden Saturday instead of a restaurant row.
Why people stay
- Dinner and the grocer are on the same walk.
- St. Ambrose and the feast calendar still belong to the people who live here.
- Wilson and Marconi is an easy place to meet.
- The brick houses match the scale of the block.
- Shaw, Tower Grove Park, and Dogtown are close when you want a different day.
Homes here
Homes for sale on The Hill St. Louis are tight brick on small lots. A St. Louis realtor who works the city starts with the street, then the roof and the masonry. Houses for sale St. Louis in Dogtown or Shaw are a different Saturday. The city neighborhood guide has the wider map.