Throw Back Tuesday: 2817 Cherokee

Cherokee has evolved over the years: from residential to commercial. Edward August Vandeventer's home sat on this site prior to 1935. Mr. Vandeventer (b. 3/09/1890 and d. 01/14/1944) was a World War I vet having served in the Navy on the USS Missouri. He married Rose A. Rulles and they bought their one-story Cherokee Street home (built in 1892) to raise their family. Seeing the shift on the street, Mr. Vandeventer had his residence demolished. December 5, 1935, a construction permit was granted. In 1936, a new 2133 sq. ft. building opened to house the Victor Creamery Company. It was designed by architect William H. Guth and built by contractor Fred Stamm.

The building is know as the Vandeventer Building. In the late 1940s it became the Cherokee Super Market.

Photo: A to Z, 2817 Cherokee, 1988.

In the late 1980s, the building housed a video rental store. Cherokee Street had declined from it's heyday, but the new investment by Hispanic immigrants brought a new life to the street.

Photo: Taqueria El Caporal, July 31, 2006

Photo: Arcos Mexican restaurant, 2010

Today, 2817 Cherokee is home to Taqueria El Bronco.

Photo: El Bronco

Sources:

Library of Congress, www.loc.gov/resource/mrg.00349/

RiverFront Times, www.riverfronttimes.com/foodblog/2013/08/14/ten-best-mexican-restaurants-in-st-louis?page=4

FamilySearch.org

Geo St. Louis

Historical Marker Database, www.hmdb.org/marker.asp?marker=124452

MO Dept of Natural Resources, https://dnr.mo.gov/shpo/survey/SLAS034-S.pdf

Roadside Architecture, www.roadarch.com/deco/mo2.html

Historic Building Survey: Art Deco & the Internationl Style, St. Louis and St. Louis County, Missouri, 1987, https://dnr.mo.gov/shpo/survey/SLAS034-R.pdf