Tower Grove Park is one of the jewels of St. Louis, and it is just as beautiful as the more famous Forest Park, with a fraction of the crowds.
What is interesting is that Henry Shaw laid out the park, and built most of the pavilions, long before the city reached out to the park. He clearly realized the rapid growth of the city would reach his park soon enough. Below are a series of pictures I took at sunset in the late summer of 2013. Read more about the various pavilions, many dating to the 1870’s when the park was out in the country.
See more pictures of the South Entrance Lodge here.
My wife is in lurrrrrrve with this park, and I’m kind of fond of the ellipse of cypress trees in the eastern half–absolutely beautiful. Man, I do love me some cypress.
Oh, would that this town had a man–or woman–like Henry Shaw around today. Instead we get parasites like Rex Sinquefield and such like.
You have a rather good point, tho, Sinquefield has put StL on the chess map. He takes his own name a bit too seriously.
We lived a block from the park for ten years (before moving back to Chicago). We taught our girls to ride their bikes there and spent many, many happy hours walking and picnicking there. It is indeed a jewel.
I am fairly new to St Louis, and was stunned at my first visit to Tower Grove Park. The size, scope, age and beauty all blew me away…especially in light of the people I meet out in West County (mostly people who see no reason to venture out of West County) who had warned me “dont go down there…its dangerous”… It’s definitely one of those places where you feel the connection to something greater than yourself.
Tower Grove Park is full of life and activity on many evenings and weekends. Families gather for picnics, friends play sports, and groups of all kinds have fairs, markets, and festivals. A dedicated team of rangers and caretakers make sure that the facilities and all that nature has to offer is in top shape for all to enjoy. I’ve never felt unsafe, even in the dead of winter well past sunset.
On the other hand, my husband tended bar for a while at an upscale restaurant in Ballwin and routinely had to dodge wine glasses being thrown at him by drunk patrons. Hmmm …