Stories That Shape Our Culture

Stories That Shape Our Culture. Get to Know North Webster Groves. Community Identity, The first African-American people came to the area of North Webster in the early 1800s as enslaved people farming the woodlands. Many freed African-American people stayed in North Webster after slavery was abolished, and the North Webster community was founded., By the early 1900s, the North Webster community had a thriving business district with groceries, churches, barber shops and African-American doctors and dentists. One of the best high schools in Missouri for African-American students, Douglass High School, was built in the community. Many African-American families moved here so that their children would receive an excellent education., Naming of the Park, Lorraine Davis Park is named for Lorraine Davis, a North Webster resident who taught English and Latin classes at Douglass High School. African- American students from throughout St. Louis County attended Douglass High School, the first and only accredited high school for African-Americans in St. Louis County until 1954 when schools were desegregated., Lorraine Davis was a member of the O.D.T. (Our Day Together) Club which was organized in Webster Groves in the 1930s. With the O.D.T. Club, Davis worked to provide scholarships and encourage neighborhood beautification and other civic projects., Confluence of the Creeks, Deer Creek begins in Creve Coeur, and Shady Creek begins in Glendale. The two creeks come together at Lorraine Davis Park and then continue on to the River des Peres. Over the years, people have gathered along the banks of these creeks to catch fish, eat together and share stories., The Deer Creek Greenway and other regional greenways trace the network of waterways that form the foundation of our communities in the St. Louis region. They connect us to one another, the nature that surrounds us and our greater community.