It's no secret that St. Louis was one of the largest, most densely populated cities in America as recently as 1950.  All around us, there are physical reminders of a time not too long ago when St. Louis stood in the ranks of Chicago, Philadelphia and Boston.  With a peak population density of over 14,000 people per square mile, the demand for space was high, but room to build was extremely limited.  St. Louis' extensive streetcar network further aided the growth of neighborhood commercial districts, and street-facing retail along the streetcar lines was considered premium real estate.  To maximize space in these already crowded districts, tiny storefronts were squeezed between larger buildings.  While a handful of these brick sandwiches are scattered around the city, they seem to be most common along Jefferson and Cherokee streets- once major commercial corridors serving extremely dense neighborhoods surrounding them.  If you blink, you might miss these narrow slivers of storefront!

2527 S. Jefferson


3357 S. Jefferson


2619 1/2 Cherokee


2728 Cherokee


2741-A Cherokee


These slender beauties have survived through decades of population decline and suburbanization for one simple reason-- they are too small to matter.  But they matter to us!   Thankfully, most of them continue to fill a niche in the neighborhood today... literally.