Ruth Porter Mall

This narrow 8.12 acre strip of land from the intersection of DeBaliviere Avenue and Delmar Boulevard all the way north to Etzel and Blackstone Avenues in the West End Neighborhood.

The park is named for Ruth Porter (1915-1967). Ruth Porter was a founder and first executive secretary of the Greater St. Louis Committee for Freedom of Residence, a group organized in 1961 to break down housing restrictions and integrate housing in St. Louis. In 1958, she won an award from the National Conference for Christians and Jews for promoting racial understanding. She was named outstanding woman of the year in 1965 by the NAACP. Her tireless efforts to secure fair housing eventually led to the landmark U.S. Supreme Court decision in the Jones vs. Mayer case, which was won by residents she helped to support. At one time Porter was also director of the Kinloch YMCA and a leader in the West End Community Conference.

The park has seen an amazing transformation by the Great Rivers Greenway organization. Funded through a tax increase voted on by the people of St. Louis and surrounding small towns in the suburbs of St. Louis County and St. Charles County to create the Great Rivers Greenway District, this pedestrian/bike trail is absolutely fantastic.