Readers who grew up in South St. Louis might remember the sad abandonment and despoliation of Old St. Marcus, on Gravois Avenue just northeast of the city limits.

Originally founded by St. Marcus Evangelical Church, a storied German congregation, it suffered from disinvestment and abandonment, while its counterpart, across the border in Affton continued with fiscal solvency.

To put it mildly, as can be seen in these photographs, the cemetery became something akin to a forest or savannah, with stories of teenagers having “beer parties,” with vandalism and burglaries of graves and mausolea occurring.

In 1962, a developer proposed to build a shopping center, six-family flats, a convent and a shopping center on the property, but the plan went nowhere, possibly due to neighborhood opposition.

Eventually, in 1977, the City of St. Louis purchased the cemetery and planned a park. The only graves that were moved to New St. Marcus Cemetery were those that had paid perpetual care, which was around 1,000 out of a potential 20,000. The plans above, as one can easily see by visiting the park, were never realized.

It is now referred to as a “passive park,” which is possibly a euphemism for a park that nobody seems to use.

Here and there you can spot a tombstone or major monument which was not moved due to its size. But that doesn’t make complete sense as photographs reveal even larger monuments and mausolea that were removed.

The City keeps the grass mowed well.

Perhaps the more interesting portion of the park is where gravestones are mounted in low slung walls. I have heard that these are possibly the stones of veterans, but I am not sure.