as recounted by Susie Gudermuth

French settlers originally called the area now occupied by Tower Grove South Prairie Du Noir, "the dark field." In the early 1800s, William Russell, one of the first prominent landowners and great-uncle of Charles M. Russell, noted painter of the American West, purchased 432 acres of forest and prairie in what came to be known as Oak Hill for its fine grove of oak trees.

The land was subdivided for residential use between 1881 and 1945. In the northeastern section, most of the construction was completed in the first decade of the 1900s, and Tower Grove Heights was founded. On July 2, 1908, the president of the newly formed Tower Grove Heights Improvement Association, James M. Rollins, wrote "Tower Grove Heights: the magic city, a city within a city, built up, as it was, within a period of less than four years. St. Louis can justly be proud of the achievements wrought. In our midst is beautiful Tower Grove Park with its chirping birds, sunken garden, beautiful foliage and world of flowers." The residential area thrived in those days, nestled as it was between the beauty of the Park and the thriving business district, which was home to bakeries, boutiques, delicatessens, and myriad other shops that served not only the neighborhood, but attracted people from all over St. Louis.

Fast forward several decades to 1980, a year that would mark the end of my nomadic life, during which I had lived in San Francisco, Denver, and various parts of the St. Louis metropolitan area. Living in other cities I had come to appreciate each city's unique variety of urban life. I moved into St. Louis city and couldn't believe what I saw: an array of lovely, older buildings, businesses with deep roots in the community, and formerly cohesive neighborhoods, but in a setting where younger residents were succumbing to the dubious allure of the suburbs while older ones were dying, and absentee landlords were buying up property and letting it fall apart. People increasingly seemed to regard this neighborhood and much of the city as doomed to economic decline and slum lords.

Without initially intending to transform an entire neighborhood, I set out to change a few things that were within my power. It's true that you can't buy, gut, and rehab every house in a neighborhood; but sometimes, with the right opportunities, resources, and the support of the right individuals (God knows where I'd be without the invaluable support and assistance of my husband, Tim Hays), you can buy, gut and rehabilitate a few key properties and take a big step in reviving a community. Plus, I tried to show my concern for the neighborhood in smaller ways, like keeping the streets and alleys clean and my properties well-managed - one should never underestimate the importance of bending over to pick up the litter. You can still see me walking around the neighborhood doing just that about any day of the week.

The history of Tower Grove Heights leads us to present day. I live and have lived for 25 years in a community of which I am proud. I cannot overstate the importance of living where I work. I believe communities benefit when those that own property, take their place as part of a greater whole. The unique aspects of our area, like its pedestrian scale, the diversity of its population, the proximity of the park and the business district, as well as the intact, turn of the century housing, are elements that I have always sought to emphasize and incorporate, and I believe that the neighborhood is better for it.