Update: The members of the Alexian Brothers are buried in a communal plot in SS. Peter and Paul Cemetery out Gravois Road. The hospital is now known as South City Hospital after the departure of the Alexian Brothers.

Most St. Louisans know that the famous exorcism, on which the movie The Exorcist was based, took place in South St. Louis, at the now demolished but still operating St. Alexius Hospital on South Broadway.

The wing where the exorcism occurred was somewhere around where this parking lot is now; according to legend, the Devil keeps the asphalt cracked on the very spot where it happened.

I want to stress that I am proud the Alexian Brothers stayed in South St. Louis, as countless other hospitals moved to the County.? It is a bit of a shame that they could not have found a use for the old buildings.

The new building, from the 1970’s is undistinguished, though I like the funky stylized depiction of Christ with the Sacred Heart on the side of the hospital.

The chapel is around back, and has character.

The old Lutheran Hospital was acquired by Alexian Brothers and is now known as the Jefferson Campus of St. Alexius Hospital, not to be confused with the original, historic location.