Lost Caves of St. Louis

by Charlotte Rother, Hubert Rother

Deep beneath the streets and buildings of St. Louis lie forgotten caves that once harbored native Americans, mushroom growers, beer makers, even a group of turn-of-the-century "tramps." In the early 1960s, brewery worker Hubert Rother and his wife Charlotte explored many of the caves before they were sealed. Combining personal recollections and historical research, Lost Caves of St. Louis provides a fascinating mussing chapter in the city's history.

144 pages, Paperback

First published October 1, 1996

Reviews

[Cathy]

So very interesting learning about all the caves under our city!

[Sarah]

So interesting! This information and local folk-lore would be lost without this wonderful book. Very curious adventures, thanks for sharing.

[Blythe]

Definitely a niche audience but I enjoyed it.

[Stuart]

(NB: Having excavated 2500 sq ft of the caves under the Cherokee Brewery Stockhouse, I am slightly biased in my review.)

Saint Louis has more caves underneath it than any other city on the planet. These caves were used by the Osage Indians that lived in the area, by the French fur traders who usurped them, by the German immigrants that made Saint Louis a beer town.

The second half of the Twentieth Century being a period of cultural and ecological abjuration, the human impact of the cave systems underneath Saint Louis was nearly lost forever. I admire the dedication and scholarship of Charlotte and Hubert Rother, who pieced together stories of settlement, development and abandonment of more than two dozen caves by ragamuffin children, brewers, entrepreneurs, and criminals. Their forays into caves--often exploring them shortly before city mandates and bulldozers permanently filled or sealed them--are miniature epics. Throughout the book Charlotte maintains a tone of wonder and good cheer that makes me wish she had been my neighbor as a child.

An excellent read if you live in Saint Louis, you possess an interest in caves or you enjoy the history of brewing.