Schools, parks and shopping are all accessible in Black Jack
Black Jack is a family friendly suburb about 13 miles north of St. Louis. Kids can walk to public schools and lively green spaces, like Harold J. Evangelista Park. There’s also a major shopping corridor and several highways nearby. This quiet and convenient location is what attracts most homebuyers to the North County community. “People move here because they’ve lived in St. Louis proper, and now they want to settle down and raise their kids somewhere outside the city with big lawns,” says Daryl Holland, a Realtor with Coldwell Banker who has lived here since 2019. Most residents continue to work in the city after moving to Black Jack, and their commute doesn’t take long. “The drive is usually less than 30 minutes,” Holland says. “We’re so close that most people will just say they live in St. Louis to anyone who’s not super familiar with the area.”
New subdivisions are under construction in Black Jack
Mid-20th-century ranch styles and early 2000s New Traditionals dot Black Jack’s winding roads and cul-de-sacs. Subdivisions with contemporary and custom homes are also under development. Mature American oak trees often shade grassy lawns, with the median lot size coming in at nearly an acre. Older homes can cost between $100,000 and $275,000, while new builds and houses with more square footage typically sell in the $300,000 to $575,000 range.
Kids can walk to Jury Elementary and Hazelwood Central Middle
Hazelwood School District serves Black Jack. Kids can go to Jury Elementary and Hazelwood Central Middle, which are both located in the community and earn C-minuses from Niche. They may continue to C-plus-rated Hazelwood Central High, where dual enrollment classes with St. Louis Community College include cybersecurity, biology and medical intervention. The unrated Salem Lutheran School educates students in kindergarten through eighth grade.
There’s a Fall Festival at Harold Evangelista Park
Harold J. Evangelista Park has tennis courts, picnic pavilions and walking paths surrounding a small fishing pond. In September, the green space hosts a Fall Festival, where locals can jump in bounce houses, compete in a cornhole tournament and get their faces painted. North County Recreation Complex, on Black Jack’s eastern edge, is home to a fitness center and a gymnasium regularly used for youth basketball and volleyball games. Outside, there’s an aquatic center with a lazy river, lap lanes and water slides. The public, 18-hole Eagle Springs Golf Course is also part of the complex, and Florissant Golf Club, west of Black Jack, is another course in the area. Several other recreation spaces are near the Missouri and Mississippi rivers, including the Columbia Bottom Conservation Area, less than 6 miles east. Locals can visit the 4,256-acre plot to hike waterfront trails, take pictures in sunflower fields and launch boats. Houses of worship here include Ward Chapel AME Church and Trinity Mount Carmel Baptist Church.
A shopping corridor is at U.S. Route 67 and New Halls Ferry Road
Locals can buy groceries at Save A Lot or the African Caribbean Market. A few restaurants are also here, including Angelo’s Pizzeria, a counter-service spot that has been around since the ‘80s. Big-box stores, like Walmart Supercenter and Target, sit at the intersection of U.S. Route 67 and New Halls Ferry Road, about 2 miles northwest. The intersection is a major shopping corridor, which Holland says is especially busy on weekends. “I swear, almost all of North County runs errands around there on Saturday and Sunday,” Holland says. “I try to only shop there on weeknights.” The corridor also has several fast-food restaurants, including Starbucks and Chick-fil-A.
Commuters can get to St. Louis via several routes
Though some streets are sidewalk-lined, Black Jack is a car-dependent community. State Route 367, Halls Ferry Road and Interstate 70 all lead directly to St. Louis, and with this many routes, the area isn’t super traffic-heavy. “If there’s some sort of backup on one street, we can easily just hop on a different one,” Holland says. “There’s always one route that isn’t busy.” Metro Transit buses offer rides to other suburbs. Black Jack is in a flight path of the St. Louis Lambert International Airport, 11 miles southwest. Christian Hospital, less than 4 miles southeast, has 283 beds and an emergency room.
