10th Anniversary of Dedication, St. Philip's Lutheran Church, St. Louis, May 9th, 1937
Our History
​St. Philip's Lutheran Church is a descendant of Grace Lutheran Church and the Carr Street Mission. Reverend Lucius Thalley founded Grace Memorial on November 8, 1903. This church was the first African American Lutheran Congregation west of the Mississippi River. Quickly after the church's creation, a Christian day school was started in 1904. By 1909, the congregation was reorganized as Grace Lutheran Church. The members met at several storefronts and organized under Pastor Paul Gose to secure a permanent site. The new church building, erected in 1927 on Goode Avenue (now Annie Malone Drive), was renamed St. Phillips Lutheran Church. Since the location was moved, the children of Grace Lutheran could no longer walk to the school. A group of Lutherans organized to support the remnants and continue as Grace Lutheran Church. The school was dissolved in 1940, and Grace would find a permanent site in 1946, changing its name to Transfiguration Lutheran Church. In 1966, the St. Philip's congregation discussed leaving the area but chose instead to reaffirm its commitment to the Ville by building its new church building on the same site.
Our Historic Neighborhood
​The Ville originally belonged to Charles M. Elleard, a florist and horticulturist who maintained a conservatory and greenhouses on the tract. Elleard donated most of the products of his nurseries to his friends. During Elleard’s twenty or so years at his Goode and St. Charles Rock Road property, the area became known as Elleardsville. Elleardsville (later shortened to “The Ville”) attracted German and Irish immigrants and some African Americans in the late nineteenth century. The neighborhood’s first black institution, Elleardsville Colored School No. 8 (later renamed Simmons School), opened in 1873.
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Sumner High School, the first high school for black students west of the Mississippi, Turner Middle School, Marshall, and Simmons Elementary School. St. James African Methodist Episcopal Church and Antioch Baptist Church have been providing spiritual support to this community since the late 1800s and continue to be leaders in stabilizing and revitalization efforts. Tandy Park acts as the front yard of Sumner High School, providing many recreational activities for area residents. Homer G. Phillips trained numerous Black doctors and nurses over its 42-year span. In 2003 it reopened as the Homer G. Phillips Dignity House/Senior Living Community.