Originally St. Catherine’s Mission, the religious center of the area, Uptown became the swanky shopping center of the community with the founding of Chester Mercantile. Not only did Chester cater to the discriminating taste of the happy homesteader’s housewife across the Midwest and West, but the four-story, square block department store that became Chester Mercantile, with its warehouse across the street, became a destination in its own right. Artisan shops, furniture stores, and craftsmen moved to the area to capitalize on Chester’s success and crowds. The southeast corner of Uptown became the most desirable commercial district in the city, an utterly earthy destination. The northern center of Uptown, in contrast, remained home to St. Catherine’s, including the basilica, the preparatory school, and the monastery. St. Catherine’s had begun as a center of culture and became a school for troubled but wealthy or gifted youths. The part of Uptown stretching from Brookline to Hill Avenue resembled The Hill, a middle-class section of the city populated with single family dwellings.
