The Renaissance Neighborhood History Project

As told by John M. Holderman to Arena Mueller & P. Casey Morgan on October 5, 2019. Edited for flow and clarity. Doc Henderson was not a rich man. He worked out of an office in the Medical Arts Building. Well, when he retired, he got on the news (Everyone listened to the news at noon on KVOO) and announced that anyone that owed him any money…forget it. And then he went on to say… if you needed any medical…. to come by his house. He said, if you still had issues or wanted to be seen, just come by the house and he would treat you. He had built in his old front screened porch and that’s where he would see folks. He used to stop us kids in the neighborhood, and kinda just give us a physical, there on the street. Look us over and look in our throat. I can remember one time, I had a sore throat, a real bad sore throat. And so, I went on my own to doc Henderson and told him what my problem was. He gave me a thing that you squeeze down… sulphur powder. I went home and my...

In the 1920's the front yard of a home was considered a public space and received the most landscaping attention.  In RNA many homes had trees, in pairs in the front of the home. Some of these original 'twins' survive and now tower over their homes. In contrast, back yards were considered a work or service area with clothes lines, garbage cans, perhaps a kitchen garden but were not typical for retreat or recreation. One a beautiful, blustery day in October 2019, my dad and I drove around the neighborhood, taking note of some most common species, their size and possible age.  My dad, Sand Mueller, is a retired horticulturist, trees are his passion.    Some of the most senior trees that we encountered included:  Pecan (Native and Paper Shell), Box Elder, Red Oak, Sycamore, River Birch, American Elm and Magnolias.  Left: Mr. Paul Trees planting a pecan tree in the mid 1930's. Read more about the Trees and their large Tudor Revival HERE . Righ...

Dear Readers, Chances are, if you are reading this, you love the Renaissance Neighborhood. Some of you have made your homes here for 10, 20, even 30 years. However, there aren’t many (if any) among us who can lay claim to the history that John M. Holderman has with our neighborhood. For starters, he was born in the back bedroom of the house his father built at 2534 E. Eleventh Street. He grew up in the neighborhood and clearly recalls many of the homes, the people and events of the 1940’s and 50’s. Although he no longer lives in the neighborhood, he continues to own and care for property here. We are lucky to be able to have captured some of his recollections for our history. Here is a bit of his story: ***** John M. Holderman’s father, John Warren Holderman, was born in Alabama. By the time he was twelve, in the late 1890’s, both his parents had died and he was on his own in the world. Armed with only a second-grade education, he made his way to St. Louis where he found...