Labeled as the "Liquid Carbonic Co." on early Sanborn Fire Insurance maps, the building served various functions, looking at the list of labels on the map. Carbonic acid would have presumably been added to the beer to increase its carbonation.
I still can never get enough of the towering grain silos that sit right on Lemp Avenue; simple and clean lines create the perfect utilitarian industrial structure in St. Louis.
I would love to look up one of the silos; I assume they are sitting empty.
I am still amazed that, after all of these years (what - 80+?) that these buildings are in such excellent condition! Now, it's been a couple of years since I've actually been in that 'hood, but all recent photos of any of the buildings show no cornices falling and heck - even in the first photo there is still glass - in groundfloor windows, yet!
ReplyDeleteObviously there has been some benevolent ownership over the years - and certainly attention by police patrols.
I realize the roof of one building is collapsing, as you showed in a photo series some time ago, but overall, the complex seems in remarkable condition - quite a testament to the workmanship of the original masons and bricklayers.
I recall visiting relatives WAY further South on Broadway in the '40s from the sticks out here and marveling at the complex - between that and the Busch complex, I imagined they were castles...