Because of a housing shortage that developed during the Depression and World War II, the Antique Row neighborhood was a crowded and busy community during the 1950's, when Larry Akley grew up there. Akley lived with his family in an upstairs three-room flat, while his boyhood friend Jerry Becker and Becker's family lived in a three-room flat on the third floor. Downstairs was a 3.2 tavern that was open on Sundays selling 3.2 beer. Neighborhood children played crowns in the yard of Shepard Elementary School using bottle caps and a sawed off broom handle, often getting beer bottle caps from the taverns on Cherokee Street. As the commercial hub of the neighborhood, Cherokee Street was a focal point of community life, and one highlight of the school year at nearby Shepard School was a picnic day that began with a parade down Cherokee Street. Through high school, Akley walked down Cherokee to his job at Berlinger Dairy at 2025 Cherokee Street. He also remembered an old policeman, Joe Saputo, who ran children off the corner and made sure they went home. Akley later became a police officer, and Joe Saputo eventually worked for him. Akley retired as a Major in the St. Louis Police Department.
