To many St. Louisans, the Hill is an Italian neighborhood known for its nationally acclaimed restaurants, specialty groceries and bakeries, tiny "shotgun" houses and fire hydrants proudly painted red, white and green, the colors of the Italian flag.

Yet this image just touches the surface, for this 50 square block area in South St. Louis is not merely one of the city's great ethnic neighborhoods, but among its most stable, tightly woven communities. Throughout its history, the Hill's staunchly Italian identity has been the glue that has held this neighborhood together.

Though the Hill is no longer the isolated enclave it once was, it has retained a loyalty and cohesiveness that goes beyond the fire hydrants, the annual Columbus Day parade, and the many popular restaurant and specialty stores that dot the neighborhood. This is still a neighborhood where childhood friends meet for lunch, where most people know all the their neighbors and where businesses have been operated by the same families for generations.

While the Hill retains its historical ethnic character it welcomes newcomers and visitors as a vital part of its continuity. As Hill residents know, you don't have to be Italian to appreciate the enduring community that their parents and grandparents created here.

Copy from Where We Live: A Guide To St. Louis Communities, edited by Tim Fox ©1995
by the Missouri Historical Society Press