Origins

Historical marker location:

1300 Cherokee Street, Saint Louis, Missouri

( Marker is at the intersection of DeMenil Place and Cherokee Street, on the right when traveling north on DeMenil Place.)

Marker installed: 1999

Cherokee-Lemp Historic District

The famous Dred Scott case, which helped fuel the tensions that led to the Civil War, originated in Missouri. Dred Scott was a slave who sued for his freedom in the Missouri courts in 1857, but the U.S. Supreme Court ultimately ruled against him.