Lifestyles

Trails West is St. Joseph’s largest annual festival held each August in Civic Park in front of City Hall.

Turn down many residential streets in St. Joseph and you’re sure to spot a beautiful home. Around every corner is a piece of architectural history Georgian and Colonial, Victorian and Italianate, even Craftsman styles abound. Gracing these glorious homes are tree-lined streets, sidewalks and a parkway system connecting the city’s northernmost park with its southern counterpart.

If you like the old homes but hate the upkeep, contemporary mansions and homes are sure to become the next generation’s “dream” residences. Apartments and condominiums abound as well as attractive and modern retirement communities. One residential market gaining popularity is downtown, where building owners are converting upper floors into unique living spaces. The region’s best asset is perhaps St. Joseph’s park system, recreational and civic facilities, abundant golf courses and cultural events.

Twenty-six miles of winding parkways and boulevards weave through St. Joseph, complete with trees, ponds, garden areas graced with stone bridges and tunnels. This 1,500-acre park system is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and offers breathtaking scenery in any season.

With financial help from the George Bode Trust, the city’s Parks and Recreation Department recently completed a complex in the heart of St. Joseph. Phil Welch Stadium is home to the St. Joseph Saints baseball team and hosted the ISC World Softball Tournament in 2000. Nearby is the home of the Greater St. Joseph Youth Hockey Association, the St. Joseph Figure Skating Club and many public and private skating sessions Bode Ice Arena. If basketball is your game, the newest addition boasts six outdoor, lighted courts, seating, scoreboards and professional-style backboards.

For larger events and entertainment, St. Joseph provides the historic Missouri Theater and Civic Arena. The Art Deco theater, which routinely undergoes restoration, offers 1,200 seats and is the city’s cultural home. There, you can experience music from the St. Joseph Symphony or professional theater, pageants or children’s programs. Civic Arena is a much larger venue capable of handling conventions, concerts and trade shows.

Golf, anyone?  Try the new course — Mozingo — in Maryville that borders a scenic lake and park. Enjoy hills? Then its Duncan Hills Golf Club in Savannah. How about a well-groomed challenge? Reserve a tee time at Fairview Golf Course in St. Joseph. Or, you can choose from several private courses, including the St. Joseph Country Club and Moila.

Tourism

There are many attractions in St. Joseph, including the reknowned St. Joseph Museum, known for its Native American collection; Patee House is a four-story historic building complete with a steam engine; Pony Express Museum is housed in the original stables from which riders would carry mail to California; and Robidoux Row Museum is the restored home of St. Joseph founder Joseph Robidoux, and the first apartment building constructed west of the Mississippi River.

The grand prize, however, goes to the Albrecht-Kemper Museum of Art. This American art collection focuses on 18th- 19th- and 20th-century artists such as Thomas Hart Benton and George Bellows. Housed inside a Georgian-style mansion, the museum displays and stores more than 1,300 pieces.

St. Joseph played a proud and important role in the development of the west. In 1804, Lewis & Clark camped on the banks of the Missouri River in what is now St. Joseph. This is where the Pony Express began and Jesse James met his demise. Today St. Joseph offers an abundance of first-rate attractions, luxerous B&B’s, fine dining and significant lessons in American history from the early 1800s. St. Joe is an great day-trip or weekend excursion. It’s distance from KCI is much closer than most residents of the area is to KCI. We encourage you to capture a piece of history in

St. Joseph — one of America’s greatest preserved treasures.