Holy Trinity Church

Lafayette Square Side Streets

I forget sometimes that the strength of Lafayette Square lies not in the mansions on the square--though they are certainly amazing--but the side streets where more modest, but equally majestic homes help anchor the entire neighborhood.Here is a vestige of Lafayette Square losing prominence in the early 20th Century: a storefront built out the front of a house.Above is a great example of Mansard Roofs, in the restrained manner that I love so much in neighborhoods inside Grand Blvd.There are a few Federal style houses as well, as this interesting juxtaposition of Italianate and Federalist rowhouses demonstrate.I like how the owners of this house left the door with its rough patina intact.

Chicago Patina

I have decided to start a second blog featuring my photographic material of the Windy City. Check it out here. I don't plan on posting over there nearly as much as I do here, but I will post a reminder if I add anything over at Chicago Patina.

Nonsense

How do you get from converting Advantix to digital? I accidentally clicked GoogleMaps instead of regular Google, and it spat out these absurd directions. Apparently this is how you get from "converting Advantix" to "digital."

Modernist Church Threatened in Washington, DC

Having lived in DC for six years, I distinctly remember this Brutalist church at the corner of I and 16th Sts NW. Apparently they want to tear it down because they think it is ugly. Here is a picture of it at a local DC blog (note: it normally didn't look that dirty).

Protest, Washington, DC

I went to so many protests in DC that I have lost track. The best part is that any given day, you could stumble across one with little effort. I think this was a labor strike of some sort.Photos courtesy of Jeff Phillips

Hermann Bank Building

Another great Beaux-Arts bank building in downtown Hermann that I could stare at for hours.The attention to detail is so much more amazing that your average piece of crap bank building popping up in true cookie-cutter fashion.

Windy City

This is crazy; I was walking down this street a couple of hours before this happened.

Edina, Northeast Missouri

Edina is one of those towns that most people just blow through at exactly the speed limit--ever wary of speed traps in small towns.Which is a shame, because people should take the time to look out the windows as they slow down to 20 mph.I admittedly blew through Edina numerous times over the four years that I drove up to Truman State via Route 6, one of those roads that really is a pastiche of a bunch of old county roads that someone decided to bother giving an appellation to decades ago. The courthouse is interesting in that it looks to be from the early 20th century, even though most courthouses in Northeast Missouri are from the late 19th Century.Edina has a full three sides of its town square lined with cast iron fronts along with some vinyl siding and brick--and a little vitrolite.Even though it was raining, I still got some great shots of the town square, before hopping back in the car to continue on to Kirksville.

Name This Chicago Theater

Bowery Cast Iron Front, New York

Chicago Interstates

Pilsen, Chicago at Dusk

Wright Street Final Remnants

Sometimes I still can't believe this amazing building and its identical twin are gone. I found this old video of my attempt to capture the beauty--and imminent danger of collapse--that the last holdout of the Wright Street brick rustling wave that swept the block earlier this year represented. Despite hating the sound of my own voice, I thought it was worth sharing. Read my original posts on the building here and here and finallyhere.

Attack of the Ducks, Calvary Cemetery

Thomas Kempland and the J.R. Eike Glass Plate Discovery

I ran across a comment on Ecology of Absence about a collection of old photographs of St. Louis. To put it simple, they are a fantastic resource for anyone interested in the city's past. Here is the direct link to the image database.

They Don't Build Them Like They Used To #1

I'm beginning a new series of posts highlighting the shoddy construction that pervades much of the contemporary environment around America. The first winner is the concrete approaches to a bridge in downtown Hermann, Missouri, clearly showing how the brand new concrete has settled precipitously, as highlighted by the bright neon pink spray paint.

Hermann Oktoberfest Drunken Morons

JeffVanderLou Burnout

What happened to this building? How many people have lived in this building in the last one hundred years? How many years did it sit vacant? Perhaps we will never know.

Beautiful Downtown Affton

Oakland House, Affton

I ran across this great Italianate country home buried back on some side streets off of Heege Road in Affton. It's an interesting structure, as most Italianate houses I've seen have stucco walls on the exterior of these styles of houses. It's almost a little jarring for the smooth, elegant lines of the house to be interrupted by the large, boulder construction. Nevertheless, it's worth a drive-by.