CITYPARK Stadium area

Mill Creek Valley was a vibrant and historically significant African American neighborhood in central St. Louis, located between 20th Street and Saint Louis University. Originally developed in the 18th century along Mill Creek, the area grew into a major industrial and residential center. By the early 20th century, Mill Creek Valley had become one of the largest Black communities in the city, home to more than 20,000 residents, hundreds of businesses, 43 churches, and key institutions like the original Vashon High School, City Hospital #2, and the YWCA Phillis Wheatley Branch. The neighborhood thrived culturally and economically, with a strong sense of community and ties to nationally known figures like Josephine Baker and Scott Joplin.

However, decades of disinvestment, redlining, and segregation led to deteriorating housing conditions and poor infrastructure. In 1959, the city launched one of the nation’s largest urban renewal projects, demolishing nearly all of Mill Creek Valley’s 465 acres to make way for highways, institutional expansion, and commercial development. More than 20,000 Black residents were displaced, and much of the neighborhood’s cultural and historical legacy was erased. Today, institutions like Harris–Stowe State University and Saint Louis University occupy parts of the former neighborhood.

More recently, the footprint of Mill Creek Valley has been further transformed with the construction of CITYPARK, St. Louis’s Major League Soccer stadium, which opened in 2023. The \$457 million project sits on land once home to Mill Creek residents, adding to the complex legacy of redevelopment in the area. While the stadium brought new investment and attention to the central corridor, it also reignited conversations about displacement, historical erasure, and the need for equitable development that honors the communities that came before. Public memorials, like murals and interpretive signage, and works like *The Last Children of Mill Creek* by Vivian Gibson, are helping to preserve the memory of what was lost and to inspire new efforts for restorative justice.
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