I noticed that this storefront on Chouteau is not what it seems at first glance. Surrounded by what are now abandoned industrial sites and fast food restaurants, the area was originally residential.
Looking closer, one realizes that there is actually a house buried in the structure, which you can see free standing in the above Sanborn Fire Insurance map from 1909.
One of my favorite details is the small slanted roof that leads from the ground floor of the storefront to the first floor of the old house; you can actually still see the brick arch of the door peaking out from above the roof.
It was actually very common, as streets became more commercial and dense, that old houses would receive a new life as a store. I wonder if this was a small factory or laundry, as there is a large back building with ample windows. I'm afraid for the future of this building.
I noticed that this storefront on Chouteau is not what it seems at first glance. Surrounded by what are now abandoned industrial sites and fast food restaurants, the area was originally residential.
Looking closer, one realizes that there is actually a house buried in the structure, which you can see free standing in the above Sanborn Fire Insurance map from 1909.
One of my favorite details is the small slanted roof that leads from the ground floor of the storefront to the first floor of the old house; you can actually still see the brick arch of the door peaking out from above the roof.
It was actually very common, as streets became more commercial and dense, that old houses would receive a new life as a store. I wonder if this was a small factory or laundry, as there is a large back building with ample windows. I'm afraid for the future of this building.
It was indeed covered in houses long ago with little if no commercial development. My Dad grew up on California, North of Chouteau, a few blocks East of this building. That Northern section of California is a long-vanished street. Dunno when Chouteau became mostly commercial, but the family moved a few blocks South in the early '20s.
ReplyDeleteIt's not really obvious on the inside where the original house part of the building is, with all the building around it and remodeling it's gone through over the years. Just in the time that it was Angles/The Complex it change quite a bit.
ReplyDeleteOh, was this is a bar until just recently?
ReplyDelete