Dogtown

From WikiLou

Dogtown is an area of St. Louis City. It is not an official neighborhood, but is made up of three neighborhoods: Clayton-Tamm, Franz Park, and Hi-Point. It is bordered by Oakland, Hampton, Manchester, and the city limits.

It is the traditionally Irish part of St. Louis.

While there are a number of theories as to why this neighborhood is known as Dogtown, the most credible account describes a group of coal miners working in what is today Forest Park. When the city acquired the land to build the park in 1876, these people found sparsely populated areas south of the new park and built shacks to live in as they found new work. In order to secure their ramshackle homes, many of the squatters used watchdogs, which would defend their territory.