Built St. Louis > > The North Side > > Fountain Park
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At the intersection of Olive and Boyle stood the fragmented remains of a legend: Gaslight Square. Starting around 1959, and through the 1960s, Gaslight Square was a nationally reknown entertainment venue and the center of the city's Bohemian nightlife. Many of the restaurants, clubs, and bars were embellished with architectural ornament and decorations pouring out of the Mill Creek Valley neighborhoods, which were undergoing wholesale demolition in the name of urban renewal. The district took its name from the lighting fixtures that became common as a result. Gaslight Square fell victim to suburban flight and urban decay in the surrounding areas as early as the 1970s. It spent many years as a home to sleazy bars; the last establishment, the Prestige Lounge, shut down in 1990. By the late 1990s most of the buildings were long gone; those that remained stood open and rapidly deteriorating. |
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