Friday, October 5, 2007

Compton Heights, Part 1

The Compton Heights area just off of South Grand Blvd is remarkable for several reasons. The third standpipe in St. Louis, built to relieve pressure on the pipes of local homes from the ravages of steam powered water pumps, stands in the midst of an interesting park, with a neighborhood of lavish homes nearby. Let's look at the tower first.The tower is built in what is described as French Romanesque Revival, which is a fairly accurate description of the architecture.
The tower is dominated by massive blocks of rusticated stone on the base, while moving up to more finely cut stone work.
The standpipe itself is still inside the tower, and the staircase to the observation deck is still in place, snaking around the outside of the pipe inside the tower.
Here is one of the pipes off the main pipe that allowed excess water pressure to drain off harmlessly.

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A Blog detailing the beauty of St. Louis architecture and the buildup of residue-or character-that accumulates over the course of time.