Residential Segregation
Before 1911, there were no segregation laws in St. Louis. Missouri had never succeeded from the North, although they did allow slavery. In 1911, after blacks from the South began migrating North in search of economic opportunities and equal rights, St. Louis passed their first segregation law. The law stated that no person could move onto a block where three-fourths of that block’s inhabitants were of a different race. Following residential segregation, there was a significant race riot in 1917. Residential segregation continued under zoning ordinances and deed covenants that further restricted blacks to certain areas and neighborhoods