DOGTOWN AND THE ST. LOUIS WORLD'S FAIR

The 1904 St. Louis World's Fair marks a transition period in the neighborhood of Cheltenham/Dogtown. While I'm fairly convinced that much of the Tamm and Clayton area was called Dogtown from about 1876 onward, the major transition to "Dogtown" probably occurs with and after the fair. This is not to embrace the "igorot theory" of the naming of Dogtown, which I do not hold, but there are changes in economy (away from clay mining and brick making) toward working at the fair and later using the new street cars to easily get into St. Louis to work, and working at the new Scullin's Steel. The mines and factories began to close, but the population was booming and much of the settlement of the area comes in the early part of the twentieth century.

In this section are essays on the fair itself and on Dogtown's relationship to it.

• Hiram Birdseed at the World's Fair   A humerous novel published in 1904. The last section -- included in this set of comments, is an excellent non-fiction overview of the fair experience.

• Pamphlet advertising an intended Christian Hotel in Dogtown at Louisville and Oakland during the World's Fair

• Various essays on the Igorots at the World's Fair and the relationship of this tribe to the name "Dogtown."

• Rooms for rent in Dogtown during the World's Fair

• Coal taken from mine on the grounds of the St. Louis World's Fair.

• The Olympics of 1904: Comedic, Disgraceful And 'Best Forgotten'
  By Cynthia Crossen. A Wall Street Journal Article from August 11, 2004.