About Saint Louis' Soulard

Welcome August Gate!!! - August Gate Launches New Church in Soulard at 1809 S. 8th Street - Regular Services Start August 31, 2009

August Gate is set to open its doors as a new Christian church at 1808 S. Eighth Street in Soulard with regular Sunday services at 6 p.m. starting on August 30, 2009. The opening of August Gate represents the culmination of over three years of planning by Noah and Heather Oldham, Josh and Kim Jones, Todd Genteman, Juliet Piwiec, and other members of the Launch Team for August Gate. For the past several months, August Gate has been holding preview services at a number of locations. Now, August Gate is ready to settle into their new home and mission as a Gospel centered missional church.

A Church with a New World Attitude

Now, I attended a recent preview service at August Gate with the 30 core members of August Gate. I was greatly impressed by the look and feel of the services of August Gate which mixed traditional messages from the Gospel with a distinctly contemporary medium with the use of live Christian music and audio visual tools. In addition, the founders of August Gate have clearly embraced technology as a medium to deliver their religious message with the use of a website, blog, Facebook page, and even Twitter. It appears that August Gate is firmly planted with old work values with a modern outlook.

Not Even Open Yet and First Community Project a Great Success

As much as I enjoyed the August Gate service. I was also impressed by the youthful energy of the founders of August Gate and their commitment to the revitalization of the communities in which they serve. In just a short time, the founders of August Gate not only launched a new church - they also launched their first community service project with the clean-up and beautification of the Soulard Market Park and Aboussie Park in Soulard. August Gate participated in the PowerPlant community service project and received assistance from Brumley Baptist Church and the First Baptist Church Dover who travelled from Arkansas to assist with this community service project.

About PowerPlant

Here is some information on PowerPlant:

• PowerPlant was first offered by the North American Mission Board in 2003.
• Over 2,000 students and their adult leaders registered for PowerPlant in 2009.
• These students worked with over 95 church plants with community projects in over 16 cities in the United States and Canada.
• For more information on PowerPlant, visit the North American Mission Board's website.

About August Gate Services

Here is some additional information on August Gate:

• August Gate has Sunday evening services at the Trinity Lutheran Schoolhouse located at 1808 S. Eighth Street starting at 6 p.m.
• August Gate has a Tuesday evening Bible study and community group meeting starting at 6:30 p.m.

For More Information about August Gate

For more information about August Gate, contact August Gate Pastor Noah Oldham at Noah@AugustGate.com . Or, visit August Gate on the internet at www.AugustGate.com or follow August Gate on Twitter @AugustGate.

On behalf of PREA Signature Realty, we would like to welcome August Gate as our new neighbors and congratulate the Launch Team of August Gate on their hard work. I look forward to more good works from August Gate in the future.

Whether called building signage, billboards, mural ads, ghost ads, phantom ads or a dozen other names, I love to take walking tours of our great city neighborhoods and enjoy seeing vintage advertising in the form of faded lead paint on brick advertsing on old commercial buildings.

Whereas signs fall into disrepair and are removed, these faded ads on the side of buildings often last for several decades or more and are the last reminder of a commercial business long since shuttered or a product no longer manufactured. Here is the first installment for this vintage advertising series capturing vintages ads in St. Louis, Missouri: Orange Smile Soda, 2001 S. 9th Street (Souldard).

About the Orange Smile Syrup Company

In 1929, Orange Smile Syrup Company opened in Soulard at the old 2101 S. Ninth Street. It joined a growing industry of local producers of carbonated beverages, including American Soda Water at 1326 Ann Avenue, By 1930, St. Louis had 17 soda producers selling over $2,89 million carbonated beverages per year. By 1937, Missouri was ranked in the top 10 of states in the production of carbonated beverages. For 30 years. Orange Smile Syrup Company manufactured St. Louis favorites Buster Cola, Cheer-Up Soft Drink, and Smile Orange Drink. Shortly after opening the factory, William Cox, owner of the Orange Smile Syrup Company, added colored tiles to the exterior of the building forming advertisements of "Drink Cheer Up, Made Good for You" and "Drink Smile, Refresh with a Smile" (Pictured Above). For a history of the Orange Smile Company, visit the Soda Spectrum Series.

About the Orange Smile Building.

• 1860 Site was leased and used as the Union Park & Beer Garden.
• 1871 The old Union Captial Hall was constructed at 2001 S. Ninth Street as a German/Bohemian social hall and was located in Union Park.
• 1875-1880 Building was leased by the Bohemian Gymnastic Association.
• 1887-1894 Building was leased by the German Turnverein.
• 1894-1900 Building was leased by the Bohemian Gymnastic Association.
• 1896 Building was partially destroyed by the Great Cyclone of 1896.
• 1900 Building was purchased by the Bohemian Gymnastic Association.
• 1922 The Bohemian Gymnastic Association closes.
• 1922 Building was purchased by the Beatrice Ann Realty Company.
• 1924-1926 Building was used as the Allen Auto Parts store.
• 1926 Building purchased by William Cox from Lafayette Southside Bank of St. Louis.
• 1929 William Cox opens the Orange Smile Syrup Company.
• 1953 William Cox dies.
• 1959 Martha Frances Cox Webb inherits the property.
• 1960-1965 Building converted to roller skating rink.
• 1967 Building purchased by Powercraft Corp. and used for electrical part manufacturing facility.
• 1993 Powercraft Corp. closes and building taken back by the U.S. Small Business Administration.
• 2002 Smile Lofts project begins.
• For a history of the Orange Smile building, click on Smile Lofts.

Interested in renting a loft at the Smile Lofts or interested in renting or purchasing in Soulard, LaSalle Park, Benton Park or Lafayette Square? Contact Ryan Shaughnessy at PREA Signature Realty at 314-9714381 or send an e-mail to Ryan@PREASignatureRealty.com. Or, visit our website at www.PREASignatureRealty.com.