On July 22, a gourmet market opened on the corner of West Argonne and North Clay, in a building that started as a neighborhood general store in 1875. On September 15, the Kirkwood Train Station reopened two blocks away after a year-long, $4.7 million restoration. The two reopenings came 55 days apart, and both are on Argonne. The street has also become the starting point for the next two projects on the city's books, so this fall Kirkwood's investment is concentrating on Argonne more than on Kirkwood Road.
Two Buildings, Fifty-Five Days Apart
The depot is 133 years old. The corner store building is older still. Until this year, one was closed for restoration and the other was waiting for a new tenant. Now both are open, and on most days they share the same foot traffic. Commuters come off the Missouri River Runner. On Saturdays there's the market crowd, and in the evenings people walk between 4 Hands + Peacemaker and the shops across the street.
Both projects started from what the building had originally been. At the station, that meant rebuilding a piece of its 1890s architecture that had been missing since before World War II. At the market, it meant going back to a neighborhood grocery, the building's use when it was new.
The Depot Got Back the Canopy It Lost in 1941
First Alert 4 reported that the reopened station now has a restored 1940s-style platform, a new courtyard and a micro-museum of artifacts and murals about local rail history. The building went on the National Register of Historic Places in 1985, and the city bought it from Union Pacific in 2003. Volunteers run it entirely, and it is one of the busiest stations in Missouri.
Great American Stations lists the full scope of work. The platform canopy was extended east toward Kirkwood Road, rebuilding a section removed in 1941. Crews replaced the slate and copper roof and cleaned and tuckpointed the stonework. They also rehabilitated the exterior woodwork and windows, redesigned the plaza and landscaping, and drilled geothermal wells for a new heating and cooling system. Inside, they expanded the restrooms, restored the woodwork, floors and lighting, and installed modern fire suppression. Mackey Mitchell Architects of St. Louis oversaw the project. Funding came from the federal Transportation Alternatives Program, federal American Rescue Plan Act funds granted to Missouri, and fundraising by the Historic Kirkwood Train Station Foundation.
Trains kept running during the work. Passengers used a temporary station across Kirkwood Road at 110 E. Argonne, which opened June 10, 2025. Great American Stations puts station ridership at 60,213 for fiscal year 2025, which counted those trips too. That's a large number of arrivals for the 100 block of Argonne, and they now step off onto a platform that looks much as it did before 1941.
The General Store Corner, 151 Years Later
St. Louis Magazine's opening coverage ran a photo of the northeast corner of North Clay and Argonne from the late 1880s next to the same corner in May 2026. The new tenant is Fox's Finest Meats, Seafood & Marketplace at 159 W. Argonne. Its owners are Kirkwood residents Kevin and Luke Beattie, a father and son who both have the middle name Fox.
Kevin Beattie told the magazine, "We were taken first by the location," and pointed to the building's history as a general store dating to 1875. "We want to revive that to a certain degree but provide high-quality food across all price levels."
The layout follows through on that. The retail floor is roughly 2,200 square feet, with a U-shaped counter that holds a 12-foot meat case, a seafood case, and separate pork and poultry displays. Whole fish and heritage-breed hogs are butchered on site, and the shop plans to carry two tiers of prime beef. Overhead is embossed wallpaper made to look like a vintage tin ceiling, and the wine nook in back uses reclaimed century-old wood.
Some of the market's local ties are specific to Kirkwood. Some of its wines come from Blindspot Vineyard, an Italian winery bought by a Kirkwood family who met its former owners during the Kirkwood Wine Walk. Before the launch, Luke Beattie presented the concept to a Kirkwood High School marketing class, the same class he had once taken. Fourteen seniors chose the market as their final project and helped develop its branding.
Directly across the street is 4 Hands + Peacemaker at 150 W. Argonne. It took over the former Down by the Station space and opened quietly in June 2024, according to St. Louis Magazine. Two years in, it's an established neighbor, and the corner of Argonne and Clay now has a working storefront on both sides.
Between Them, an Address-by-Address Walk
According to the Downtown Kirkwood business directory, the stretch between the market corner and the farmers' market lot is close to fully leased. Heading east from Clay, it lists:
- 200 W. Argonne: Head to Toe Dancewear
- 159 W. Argonne: Fox's Finest Meats, Seafood & Marketplace
- 150 W. Argonne: 4 Hands + Peacemaker
- 140 W. Argonne: Clementine's
- 131 W. Argonne: Billy G's
- 125 W. Argonne: Great Harvest Bread Co.
- 123 W. Argonne: Sammysoap
- 117 W. Argonne: Little's Loft Play Café, which opened December 16, 2025
- 111 W. Argonne: Reclaim Renew
- 110 W. Argonne: Kirkwood Train Station
- 107 E. Argonne: Strange Donuts
- 115 E. Argonne: O.K. Hatchery
- 127 E. Argonne: Christopher's
- 150 E. Argonne: Kirkwood Farmers' Market and The Summit All Seasons Market
The directory doesn't show dates, so read it as a snapshot of the street, not a census. Two of its West Argonne entries opened within the last ten months, though, and both brought in a reason to visit that the block didn't have before: a play café and a full butcher counter.
October's Calendar Runs on the Same Street
The farmers' market at the east end is as much civic property as the depot. The City of Kirkwood founded it in 1976 and still owns the facility, and the Downtown Kirkwood Special Business District runs it. The 2026 Saturday vendor market opened April 4 and runs 8 a.m. to 1 p.m., with live music from 10 to noon.
Three dates this fall bring crowds to Argonne or the blocks next to it:
- Through October 31: The Summit All Seasons Market's Great Pumpkin Patch & Fall Fun Zone is open daily. Hours are 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Thursday, 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. Friday, 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday, and 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Sunday. Pumpkin painting runs October 17 and 18 and October 24 and 25. The patch and farm market are free to browse. The children's Fall Fun Zone, with slides, a corn pool and a stationary train, has a separate admission fee.
- Thursday, October 15, 4:30 to 8 p.m.: The free Night Market takes over East Argonne with local artisans, makers, food vendors and drinks. Bedlam Brothers are the live music.
- Thursday, November 26: The 44th Webster-Kirkwood Turkey Day Run starts in Downtown Kirkwood. The three-mile race goes off at 7:30 a.m. and the six-mile at 8:10 a.m., and registration is $25.
On a Thursday evening this month, then, the same few blocks will have a vendor market on the street, a newly restored depot with its courtyard, and a butcher counter in an 1875 storefront, all within walking distance of each other.
The Next Two Projects Also Begin on Argonne
The city's planning keeps coming back to this street. The Webster-Kirkwood Times reported this month on a $2.6 million project to improve pedestrian and bicycle connections along Argonne Drive. It would link the downtown shops to the amenities along Geyer Road to the west. The plan includes sidewalks at least 5 feet wide, accessible curb ramps, raised crossings with traffic calming, a dedicated bike lane on the western portion, and a bike shelter near Taylor Avenue. Federal grants cover $1.8 million, or 69% of the cost. Engineering starts next fiscal year, then right-of-way acquisition, with construction planned for 2030. The paper names the places the work would serve: the farmers' market, the train station, the downtown business district, the Kirkwood Community Center, the Aquatic Center and Kirkwood Park.
The bike shelter near Taylor is there for a second project. Per the City of Kirkwood's Grant's Trail page, Phase 1 of the Grant's Trail extension starts at East Argonne Drive and South Taylor Avenue. It runs to East Monroe and South Fillmore, then follows a greenway toward Leffingwell and the existing trailhead at South Holmes Avenue. Phase 1 is 0.27 mile. As of the page's June 2, 2026 update, the city estimated easement acquisition for this fall and the start of construction for winter 2027. Phase 2, a 0.56-mile link from Leffingwell to the Holmes trailhead, is still in engineering review.
Both projects are years from completion, and the timelines could move. On current plans, the regional trail system will connect to downtown Kirkwood at the east end of Argonne, a short walk from the farmers' market, the depot and the general store corner, which are all open now.
The depot and the Clay Avenue corner were both restored by working from what the buildings originally were. At The Warner Hall Group, we take the same approach with Kirkwood's historic homes. If you own one of them and want to talk through what preserving it involves, request a private consultation.
