All Things to Do in Sainte Genevieve

The Bossier-Shaw House Site Office and Interpretive Center – Missouri Department of Natural Resources’ Gateway to Sainte Geneviève’s Layered History Most historic site visitor centers occupy modern buildings constructed specifically for administrative functions—climate-controlled boxes with exhibit spaces designed from the beginning for interpretive displays. The Bossier-Shaw House operates differently. This is a genuine 1819 building constructed by Jean-Baptiste Bossier as a storehouse for his mercantile business, later expanded by Dr. Benjamin Shaw into a residence, and transformed in the 1930s into the headquarters for the Ste. Genevieve Art Colony—a radical gathering of Depression-era artists including Thomas Hart Benton, Joe Jones, Jessie Beard Rickly, and Aimee Schweig who captured tenant farmers’ encampments, lime kiln workers, sharecroppers, and the human condition in ways that established this small Missouri river town as “the Mecca of Midwestern art.” Today, operated by the Missouri Department of Natural Resources as the site office and interpretive center for the Felix Vallé State Historic Site complex, the Bossier-Shaw House hosts rotating exhibits throughout the year that explore the area’s history in the context of broader Missouri heritage, maintains a small gift shop featuring books on French Colonial history and colonial period items, and presides over the coolest feature Read more…

Brix Urban Winery & Market with Star Lite River Restaurant In the heart of Ste. Genevieve’s historic district, beneath a grape arbor that whispers of vineyards older than memory, Brix Urban Winery invites you into an un-traditional embrace with mead—that ancient honey wine experiencing its own romantic resurrection. Within these historic walls, Star Lite River Restaurant awakens at dawn with pastries and coffee, its kitchen breathing life into mornings with the kind of food that transforms breakfast into ritual. By afternoon, Brix unfolds: small-batch meads, craft beers, wine slushies frozen into summertime indulgence, and flights that guide you through flavor like constellations mapped across your palate. This is where the Schaaf family—stewards of beloved establishments across the region—honors the marriage between handcrafted beverages and the intimate charm of small-town gathering. Whether wandering downtown’s galleries between tastings, or settling beneath the grape arbor as evening descends, you discover what Ste. Genevieve offers best: moments lingering with good company, unhurried time, and the particular magic that emerges when ancient tradition meets contemporary craft. The Spirit of Mead: Ancient Honey Wine Reimagined Mead dwells in mythology. Beowulf drank from mead halls. Medieval monks crafted it within monastery walls. It carries the weight of Read more…

Centre for French Colonial Life At the corner of 2nd and Market Streets, where Ste. Genevieve’s Historic District pulses with the accumulated stories of generations, stands an institution devoted to making the invisible visible: the Centre for French Colonial Life. This modern facility serves as gateway to something increasingly rare in America—authentic, tangible connection to a multicultural past where French colonists, Spanish administrators, African Americans both enslaved and free, Native peoples, and eventually Anglo-Americans negotiated their shared existence within a Mississippi River Valley crossroads. Beginning Your Journey The Centre exists precisely for this moment: to prepare your eyes and mind before stepping into historic homes, to provide context transforming old buildings into living narrative, to answer the questions that emerge when you stand within spaces where real people made real lives. Thoughtfully curated changing exhibits provide depth. A well-stocked gift shop offers books and items extending your understanding beyond these walls. Friendly staff help you navigate not just the Centre but the entire museum campus—orienting you toward questions you didn’t know you carried, connecting you to stories your family might inhabit. Here, you’ll purchase tickets for guided tours through the Bolduc and LeMeilleur Houses. Here, you’ll learn about programs and Read more…

Takes Place The Last Saturday in August. When: 4th Saturday in August Call us at 800-373-7007 or 573-883-7097 A family-friendly, living history event! Observe Civil War camp life and demonstrations of marching, and musket fire. Learn about Ste. Geneviève citizens who fought in the war, some on each side. It is actually being held on Saturday, August 27th. The camp will be set up in the yard of the Felix Valle House State Historic Site. From 11:00am to 11:45am on that day, we will do a re-enactment of the Federal troops taking money from our bank during the early days of the Civil War. The re-enactment will be on the corner of Merchant and Main in front of the Show Me Shop. Read more…

CJoy Art Works: Turning Out Wonderful Creations in Little Bohemia At 199 North Main Street in the Little Bohemia neighborhood of downtown Ste. Genevieve, Christina Joy Elsen opens CJoy Art Works—a studio storefront showcasing hand-built ceramic work by an artist whose journey spans scenic design for Disney and Sesame Street Live, professional painting, organic farming, and three decades of artistic evolution. Relocating to Ste. Genevieve in 2025 after emerging from a St. Louis basement studio with a distinctive hand-building style developed through years of personal practice, Christina brings BA in Studio Art from Carleton College (1995), professional credentials as scenic artist in Minneapolis, and deeply personal understanding of how life’s transformations shape artistic vision. The studio displays functional and sculptural pottery created through careful hand-building techniques, inviting visitors to experience work developed across multiple creative chapters—each piece reflecting years of skill refinement, artistic intentionality, and love of the medium. From Scenic Design to Studio Pottery: A Creative Journey Christina Joy Elsen’s artistic path spans multiple mediums and decades of creative practice. After earning her BA in Studio Art from Carleton College in 1995, she worked as scenic artist in Minneapolis, building and painting sets for major productions including Sesame Street Read more…