One notable South Side thoroughfare is Itaska Street. The city named it for the lake in Minnesota that is the true source of the Mississippi River. A handy tip: don’t try to find an address on “Itaska Street” by saying it into a phone with a GPS app. That’s because the lake in Minnesota is actually spelled Lake Itasca, not Itaska. Not knowing about the misspelling of the St. Louis city street, the GPS may insist on leading you to the lake in Minnesota.
You won’t read facts like that in any walking guide of South St. Louis, only in my oddball tour of the South Side. Don’t miss it when it comes out early in 2023.
Jim Merkel the Writer 