The Ville · Delmar · Chicago · Wentzville

Chuck
Berry

Chuck Berry in a 1957 publicity photograph from his booking agency. Universal Attractions (management) · Public domain
1957
Chuck Berry about 1958, from a Pickwick trade advertisement. Pickwick Records · Public domain
c.1958
Chuck Berry arriving at Schiphol, Amsterdam, 3 February 1965. Joop van Bilsen (Anefo) · CC0
1965
Chuck Berry on stage in 1971, from a rock and roll revival show. 1950s Rock & Roll Revival (promoter) · Public domain
1971
Chuck Berry in a Chess publicity photograph, 1972. Chess Records · Public domain
1972

A boy from the Ville, a pool shaped like a guitar, a room on Delmar he played 209 times.

North St. Louis · 1941–1958

The Ville.
A school stage and a back room.

The brick front of Sumner High School — Sumner High School, Cottage Avenue, the Ville, 2012. Paul Sableman · CC BY 2.0

Sumner High School · 4248 Cottage Avenue, the Ville

Sumner opened in 1875 as the first high school for African Americans west of the Mississippi, and moved into this William B. Ittner building in 1910. Berry grew up in the Ville and went to Sumner; in 1941 he sang at the school’s All Men’s Review.

Tommy StevensChuck Berry

1941: the All Men’s Review. He sings; his friend plays.

A working public high school: see it from Cottage Avenue. It is not open to visitors. In 2021 the school board voted unanimously to keep it open, with new arts classes.

Liner notes

A large brick hospital building in the Ville — The Ville, 2009: the old Homer G. Phillips Hospital, a short walk from Whittier Street. The house itself is private and not shown. Onegentlemanofverona · CC BY 3.0

Whittier Street · Greater Ville

Berry and his wife bought the house in 1950 and lived there until 1958. He wrote and rehearsed songs here, Johnny B. Goode and Roll Over Beethoven among them. Berry built the rear addition himself.

The Greater Ville had been white and middle-class, so the Berrys moving in mattered. It went on the National Register of Historic Places in 2008.

A private house, empty and not open. Not on the map; the photograph shows the Ville nearby, not the house. The house stands empty, and the house next door to the south has been pulled down.

Liner notes

The St. Louis skyline and Gateway Arch across the river at dusk — From the East St. Louis riverfront, looking back across the Mississippi, 2023. The club’s building is not identified. w_lemay · CC BY-SA 2.0

St. Louis, Missouri

30 December 1952.
Across the river.

Six months before, on 13 June 1952, he had joined Tommy Stevens’s house band at Huff’s Garden, playing every Saturday.

The sources here do not identify the building, so it is not on the map. The photograph looks back across the river from East St. Louis.

Liner notes

Chicago · May 1955

Muddy Waters said:
go and see Leonard Chess.

He drives to Chicago, catches Muddy Waters at a club, and is told to go and see Leonard Chess. He records Maybellene and Wee Wee Hours. The song had started out as Ida May; Chess liked it.

Song title, 21 May 1955

It started out as Ida May.

Liner notes

A 1955 trade advertisement for the single Maybellene — Chess’s trade advertisement for Maybellene, 6 August 1955. Chess · Public domain

A Chicago street corner with shops in 1978 — 47th Street at Drexel, a block east of Cottage Grove, 1978. Downtowngal · CC BY-SA 4.0

4750 South Cottage Grove Avenue

Chess moved its offices here, to larger quarters, on 1 May 1954. In April 1957 the Chess brothers told Cash Box that Berry’s School Day was the biggest thing they had ever had.

The label’s next home, 2120 South Michigan, dates from 1957, so the 1955 Maybellene session is not placed there.

An office address only: look from the street. The photograph is 47th Street at Drexel, a block east, in 1978.

Liner notes

The front of the Chess Records building on Michigan Avenue — 2120 South Michigan Avenue, 2012. Steve Browne & John Verkleir · CC BY 2.0

Chess Records, 2120 South Michigan Avenue

Built in 1911 and remodelled for Chess in 1956–57, it was the brothers’ home from 1957 to 1967. Muddy Waters, Willie Dixon, Howlin’ Wolf, Sonny Boy Williamson and Chuck Berry recorded here; Johnny B. Goode was made here. It became a Chicago Landmark on 16 May 1990.

Tours Tuesday to Saturday between 12 and 4pm, by reservation only (email or phone): adults $25, students and seniors $20.

Liner notes

Willie Dixon’s Blues Heaven Foundation

Tour of the Chess Records building

Near South Side, Chicago · Tue–Sat 12–4pm · adults $25

Inside 2120 South Michigan, where Johnny B. Goode was made. By reservation only, by email or phone.

Request a tour

More on these rooms: Johnny B. Goode, from Chess to the Voyager celebration · the Chess Records World · Muddy Waters’s World

Near Wentzville · 31 May 1961

He built his own park.
The pool was a guitar.

Empty. Pour, and the park comes back.

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A small-town main street in Wentzville — Main Street, downtown Wentzville, 2009. Berry Park is private and not shown. Brendanmo11 · Public domain

His private estate: not open and not on the map. The photograph is Main Street in Wentzville.

Liner notes

Chuck Berry in a 1972 publicity portrait — Chuck Berry in a Chess publicity photograph, 1972. Chess Records · Public domain

Coventry, England · 1972

One night at the Locarno.
One number one.

His live My Ding-a-Ling was recorded at the Lanchester Arts Festival at the Locarno; it was filmed because Pink Floyd were recording in the next slot. It reached number one in America on 21 October 1972, his only chart-topper.

In Britain it entered the chart at 38 on 22 October 1972 and spent four weeks at number one.

The front of Coventry Central Library — Coventry Central Library, the old Locarno, Smithford Way, 2016. Julia Chandler / Libraries Taskforce · CC BY 2.0

The ballroom became Tiffany’s, closed in 1981 and became the city’s Central Library in 1986. It was listed Grade II in 2018. A free public library: Monday to Friday 9am–7pm, Saturday 9am–4.30pm, Sunday 12–4pm.

Liner notes

527 North Grand · 1986

Turned away at the door.
Drove in on four wheels.

The Fox turned Berry away as a child because of his race.

The Fox Theatre

The film was made for his 60th birthday, in 1986.

Ninety-minute tours on Saturday mornings at 10 and 10.30am: $15 plus a $1 fee, bought online by 5pm the Friday before. Enter by the brass doors on Grand. Saturday tours include a short organ recital. There are none on 28 November, 5 and 19 December 2026 or 16 January 2027.

Liner notes

A red Cadillac convertible on display in a museum gallery — Chuck Berry’s red 1973 Cadillac Eldorado at the National Museum of African American History and Culture, 2018. Alacoolwiki · CC BY-SA 4.0

National Museum of African American History and Culture

The museum has Berry’s candy-apple red 1973 Eldorado, the car he drove onto the Fox stage. Its curator went to Berry’s Wentzville estate in 2011 to talk him into giving it.

Free, but everyone needs a timed-entry pass: released 30 days ahead, with same-day passes online from 8.15am. Open 10am–5.30pm, Mondays from noon; last entry 4pm.

Liner notes

A sunburst Gibson semi-acoustic guitar — Maybellene, Chuck Berry’s Gibson ES-350T, in the Smithsonian’s collection. Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture · CC0

Fabulous Fox Theatre

Fox Theatre tour

Grand Center, St. Louis · Saturdays 10 and 10.30am · $15 + $1 fee

Ninety minutes inside the theatre that turned him away and later let him drive onto its stage, with a short organ recital. Tickets online only, by 5pm the Friday before.

Book a tour

National Museum of African American History and Culture

See the Eldorado in Washington

Washington, DC · Free · 10am–5.30pm, Mon from noon

Free, with a timed-entry pass for every visitor: released 30 days ahead, same-day passes online from 8.15am.

Get passes

The Loop · Delmar Boulevard

The Duck Room is named after the duck walk.
So walk it.

The Pageant to the Duck Room: about 0.6 km of Delmar in 12 hops.

The front of The Pageant concert hall — The Pageant, 6161 Delmar. Thepageantstl · CC BY-SA 4.0

The Pageant · 6161 Delmar Boulevard, the Loop

Farewell on Delmar

Fans queue before dawn for the public viewing at the Pageant; he is laid to rest at Bellerive Gardens.

On 9 April 2017 fans queued from before dawn for a four-hour public viewing at the Pageant, a club where Berry often played. His cherry-red Gibson was bolted inside the lid of the open coffin.

A working concert hall at the east end of the Loop: see its listings.

Liner notes

Moonrise Hotel

The Loop, St. Louis

A space-themed boutique hotel at 6177 Delmar, in the Loop, with a rooftop bar. Walk west to the statue and Blueberry Hill. Pictured: the Pageant, also on Delmar.

Check rooms

Chuck Berry at the airport in 1965 — Chuck Berry arriving at Schiphol, Amsterdam, 3 February 1965. Joop van Bilsen (Anefo) · CC0

6161 Delmar · 9 April 2017

The queue started before dawn.
Then home for good.

On 9 April 2017 fans queued from before dawn for a four-hour public viewing at the Pageant, a club where Berry often played. His cherry-red Gibson was bolted inside the lid of the open coffin.

He had died on 18 March 2017, aged 90. He was laid to rest at Bellerive Gardens that day.

Liner notes

Where it is now

9 places you can visit, in St. Louis, Chicago, Coventry and Washington. The Whittier Street house and Berry Park are private, and the Cosmopolitan’s building is not identified, so they are not on the map.

Pins mark public places; private homes are named but not pinned.

General reference · Restricted access · Coordinate precision: site · Not an exact scene or camera position; not a visitor route. A working public high school: see it from Cottage Avenue. It is not open to visitors.
General reference · Public access · Coordinate precision: building · Not an exact scene or camera position; not a visitor route. Ninety-minute tours on Saturday mornings at 10 and 10.30am: $15 plus a $1 fee, bought online by 5pm the Friday before. Enter by the brass doors on Grand.
General reference · Public access · Coordinate precision: building · Not an exact scene or camera position; not a visitor route. Open every day from 11am; table food until 9pm, then late food from the bar. Over-21s only after 9pm, except at all-ages shows.
General reference · Public access · Coordinate precision: site · Not an exact scene or camera position; not a visitor route. Out on the pavement: free, at any hour.
General reference · Public access · Coordinate precision: building · Not an exact scene or camera position; not a visitor route. A working concert hall at the east end of the Loop: see its listings.

Sumner High School, Cottage Avenue, the Ville, 2012. Paul Sableman · CC BY 2.0
4248 Cottage Avenue, the Ville
Sumner High School
Sumner opened in 1875 as the first high school for African Americans west of the Mississippi, and moved into this William B. Ittner building in 1910.
A working public high school: see it from Cottage Avenue. It is not open to visitors.
Liner notes
The Fox Theatre, North Grand Boulevard, 2017. Paul Sableman · CC BY 2.0
527 North Grand Boulevard, Grand Center
The Fox Theatre
The Fox turned Berry away as a child because of his race.
Ninety-minute tours on Saturday mornings at 10 and 10.30am: $15 plus a $1 fee, bought online by 5pm the Friday before. Enter by the brass doors on Grand.
Liner notes
The patio at Blueberry Hill, 6504 Delmar, 2012. Mattthenhaus · CC0
6504 Delmar Boulevard, the Loop
Blueberry Hill and the Duck Room
Joe and Linda Edwards opened Blueberry Hill on 8 September 1972.
Open every day from 11am; table food until 9pm, then late food from the bar. Over-21s only after 9pm, except at all-ages shows.
Liner notes
Delmar Boulevard in the Loop, 2009, two years before the statue went up across from Blueberry Hill. Chris Yunker · CC BY-SA 2.0
Delmar Boulevard, across from Blueberry Hill
The duck-walk statue
Harry Weber’s eight-foot bronze was dedicated on 29 July 2011, directly across the street from Blueberry Hill.
Out on the pavement: free, at any hour.
Liner notes
The Pageant, 6161 Delmar. Thepageantstl · CC BY-SA 4.0
6161 Delmar Boulevard, the Loop
The Pageant
On 9 April 2017 fans queued from before dawn for a four-hour public viewing at the Pageant, a club where Berry often played.
A working concert hall at the east end of the Loop: see its listings.
Liner notes

Stay

Sleep on Delmar.

A hotel in the Loop, a short walk from the Pageant, the statue and Blueberry Hill.

Moonrise Hotel

The Loop, St. Louis

A space-themed boutique hotel at 6177 Delmar, in the Loop, with a rooftop bar. Walk west to the statue and Blueberry Hill. Pictured: the Pageant, also on Delmar.

Check rooms

Go there

Stand in the rooms.

The Fox, the Chess building, the Eldorado in Washington, and St. Louis by tour.

Fabulous Fox Theatre

Fox Theatre tour

Grand Center, St. Louis · Saturdays 10 and 10.30am · $15 + $1 fee

Ninety minutes inside the theatre that turned him away and later let him drive onto its stage, with a short organ recital. Tickets online only, by 5pm the Friday before.

Book a tour

Willie Dixon’s Blues Heaven Foundation