Story by Mark F. Barnett
Photography by Marti Frumhoff

Been down to South Broadway lately? What you find might surprise you. Among the vacant buildings and closed storefronts, you'll find some stalwart business owners and some interesting characters. Jaymes Dearing, president of the South Broadway Merchants Association and a real estate agent, thinks the area is a gem in the rough that needs a little polishing.

It doesn’t take a lot of imagination to envision the strip of South Broadway between Bates Street and the St. Louis city limits as Main Street of small-town America.

Take a drive down to what are known as the Carondelet and Patch neighborhoods on Broadway. Keep going beyond the Anheuser Busch Brewery, south of the 4500 Broadway access to Interstate 55. You know you’re getting close once you pass Bellerive Park.