[Block 31A]

This small poteaux en terre (posts in earth) house was owned by the Provenchere family. The Provencheres were highly-placed aristocrats in France who had to flee for their lives when the Reign of Terror began in the early 1790s during the French Revolution. They fled to Santo Domingo, where the unrest of a slave insurrection forced them to move once again to St. Louis, where they had settled by 1799. In 1803 Antoine Nicholas Pierre Provenchere married Mary Jeronima Rutgers, the daughter of his neighbor to the west, Arend Rutgers (see Block 62). Their daughter Elise married Frederick Saugrain, son of Dr. Antoine Saugrain (see Block 50). Antoine Provenchere died in St. Louis on September 8, 1824.

The site of the Provenchere House lies today in the peaceful setting of the grounds of the Gateway Arch. The north reflecting pond in the background of this scene highlights the graceful curves of the Gateway Arch, which towers above. This view, looking north, shows the extensive changes made to the grounds after the Arch was built. In 1804 there were no dramatic hills like that on the right, or ponds like that in the middle, in this location.