1795
Antoine Soulard arrives in St. Louis after fleeing France and traveling down the Ohio River and up the Mississippi. He becomes the Surveyor General of Upper Louisiana soon after.
1803
The Louisiana Purchase Treaty is signed in Paris on April 30th; the purchase is officially announced in Washington, DC on July 4th.
1804
Arriving in Saint Louis on February 8th, William Russell is appointed as a US Government Deputy Surveyor (essentially replacing the French surveyor, Antoine Soulard).
1825
Antoine Soulard dies, and Julia Cerre Soulard, his wife, begins a years long legal battle to gain ownership and control of the family’s farm, located roughly a mile south of downtown St. Louis.
1836
Julia Soulard gains control of the Soulard farm, and subsequently begins to subdivide the land and sell it off. Between 1836 and 1841, she creates 5 additions, going from the river, up to S. 14th Street. Her son, Benjamin Antoine, also made two additions of his own in 1841.
1837
William Russell creates the Crystal Springs Farm on his vast tract of land that was just south of the Soulard farm.
1838
The Soulard Market is set aside by the Soulard family as a gift to the city to always be used as a public market. The original building was constructed in 1843, with several additions made over the years.
1840
Many German immigrants had arrived in St. Louis by this point, boosting the city’s population from 5000 in 1830, to more than 16000 by 1840. Many of the newly arrived Germans would settle in Soulard.
1842
Arriving in Saint Louis, Thomas Allen met and married William Rissell’s daughter, Ann, on July 12th. Allen and his new wife establish residence in the Russell mansion at Crystal Springs Farm (northwest of the intersection of Russell Boulevard and South 9th Street).
1848
As a result of failed independence movements in the German states, mass immigration to America begins. Passing through Saint Louis, many of these immigrants decide to settle here. Many of these people are staunchly anti-slavery and gradually bolster the abolitionist movement in Missouri. Recognizing an opportunity, Thomas Allen begins to subdivide the acreage of Crystal Springs Farm. Known as the Allen Addition, Thomas Allen surveys the land and sells lots to the German-speaking immigrants.
1860
On the eve of the Civil War, the city population reaches 160,000, ten times what it was in 1840. The arrival of thousands of Germans is a major reason for this population increase.
1861
The Civil War breaks out, and German immigrants play a major role in keeping Missouri in the Union. The St. Louis Arsenal, near Soulard, becomes a pivotal strategic location for the Union Army.
1862
Thomas Allen leases the grounds of the Russell family mansion to neighborhood brewers William Stumpf and Herman Bachmann. They establish Union Park, a picnic grounds and beer garden in the heart of Soulard, between Allen Avenue and Russell Boulevard.
1865
After the end of the Civil War, Adolphus Busch joins his father in law, Eberhard Anheuser, at the Bavarian brewery.
1867
The block numbering system is introduced in St. Louis, and many buildings in the city receive their current address numbers in this year.
1869
Thomas Allen fully subdivides the properties he owns, stretching all the way from Soulard to Fox Park. He moves into a mansion on Lucas Place the following year.
1876
The city limits of St. Louis are expanded to their current boundaries, and the city and county separate. Budweiser is introduced as well.
1883
The city streets undergo a major renaming process, and all of the named streets in Soulard, except for Menard, receive numbers.
1896
A devastating tornado hits the city on May 27th, causing massive amounts of damage, particularly in the Soulard neighborhood. The Soulard Market is heavily damaged. Several churches have to be partially or fully rebuilt.
1910
A bath house opens across from Soulard Market, and two blocks of buildings are cleared for the Soulard Market park.
1928
The current Soulard Market building is built, replacing the original structure. The architect is Albert Osburg.
1947
Harland Bartholomew releases his Comprehensive Plan for the City of St. Louis. The Soulard neighborhood is listed as “obsolete”, and is planned for wholesale demolition.
1952
The Third Street Expressway is built, severing a section of the Soulard neighborhood from the main area. This section is later renamed La Salle Park.
1960
The Kosciusko neighborhood, just east of Soulard, is rezoned as industrial, and almost all historic buildings are cleared. The project also clears all residential buildings north of Soulard Market.
1972
Soulard is added to the National Register of Historic Places, and the neighborhood narrowly avoids demolition. Over the next 50 years, the neighborhood is revitalized, and becomes one of the city’s most popular neighborhoods.