Wednesday, January 16, 2008

Cherokee Street

Cherokee Street in the Benton Park neighborhood is one of my favorite streets in St. Louis. Cherokee continues on to the west into the Benton Park West neighborhood, where I've heard there are great Mexican restaurants, but today I will focus on the more renovated Antiques Row area. Below is one of the best antique stores on the row, in what appears to have been an old grocery store. The original pressed tin ceiling is still extant on the interior, and you can even read some of the old paint on the side of the building.Below is an example of the Mansard roof houses that line the street; most were once multi-family flats, but now they are being turned into single family houses.Below is an excellent example of the pocket houses that exist throughout the city, providing small, affordable houses for the young and old alike.Below are two later buildings, most likely built after the first wave of construction, but still featuring beatiful cast iron fronts that allow for apartments up above the store fronts. They feature perfect examples of St. Louis terra cotta work.This picture is interesting, as it shows how this building seems to have been altered at some point; the brick does not match up. Perhaps it was originally a two family flat, or the original store front was no longer large enough.This building clearly was once a two family flat, but then at some point the owners converted the first floor into retail and added a store front and balcony out the front. Note the small store that sits right up next to the larger building.Below shows the close relationship houses keep with each other; perhaps originally an alley house could be accessed down this mouse hole.This is the view down Cherokee Street towards the Lemp Brewery. The street is a perfect example of the integration of residential, commercial and clean industrial development within five minute walks from each other. You could work, live and shop for your basic all within your neighborhood.What a great picture below of the side of one of the row buildings on the north side of Cherokee Street. There are literally a half dozen different signs that have been painted one on top of each other in the last century.Cherokee Street, while perhaps too sanitary and "safe" for some tastes, is a perfect example of how a street can be brought back to life after periods of disuse. The historical markers tell stories of how densely settled this neighborhood was as late as World War II, and the street is well worth the visit. Make sure to eat lunch at Mississippi Mudd in the heart of the district; if the weather is permitting, go out back to their patio.

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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.