Kings Oak, St. Louis — Area Guide & Where to Stay

What are the main landmarks in Kings Oak?

Kings Oak keeps its landmarks on Oakland Avenue, its northern boundary. The Saint Louis Science Center holds 5050 Oakland Avenue, where its Oakland Building opened on November 2, 1991 on the Falstaff Brewing Corporation headquarters site. Saint Louis University High School stands at 4970 Oakland Avenue, behind the Backer Memorial front it moved into in 1924.

Forest Park lies past Oakland Avenue. A skybridge over Interstate 64 links the Science Center to the James S. McDonnell Planetarium, which stands in that park and not in Kings Oak. The Saint Louis Art Museum and the Saint Louis Zoo also sit in that park, outside these four streets.

What is the history of Kings Oak?

Kings Oak was built as houses and then handed to institutions. The houses here went up in the early 1900s, in the years on either side of the 1904 World's Fair. Saint Louis University High School left the university campus for 4970 Oakland Avenue in 1924, moving into the Backer Memorial that Anna Backer gave for her late husband George Backer.

Manchester Avenue kept the workshops. Demolition and reuse followed: the Falstaff Brewing Corporation headquarters site at 5050 Oakland Avenue became the Science Center's Oakland Building in 1991.

Where is Kings Oak?

Oakland Avenue and Manchester Avenue run the north and south lines of Kings Oak, with Kingshighway Boulevard closing the east and Macklind Avenue the west.