In 1972, author M.M. Constantin moved to the Delmar Loop in University City. It was an aging neighborhood, founded 70 years earlier by Edward Gardner Lewis as the nerve center for his publishing business. He set up shop just past St. Louis City limits, next to the terminus of the streetcar line. There were the usual St. Louis ups-and-downs for the nascent city, and by 1972 the Loop was a touch down-at-the-heels -- even the streetcar left. But the same year Constantin arrived, a young entrepreneur named Joe Edwards opened a two-room pub in the heart of the Loop. He named it Blueberry Hill -- you may have heard of it. Anyway, in the succeeding 40 years, the neighborhood bounced back because of the financial investment of business owners like Edwards and the personal investment of citizens like Constantin, and the Delmar Loop is now a little gem again. Even the streetcar is coming back soon. Constantin documents the history of the Loop in her new book, St. Louis's Delmar Loop. She discusses the book and the city tonight at 6 p.m. at Subterranean Books (6275 Delmar Boulevard, University City; 314-862-6100 or www.subbooks.com). Joe Edwards -- who knows a little something about building up the Delmar Loop -- provided the foreword, and will attend the signing.
Thu., July 11, 2013
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