Saint Louis Patina

Mount Grace Convent

2012-02-01T08:00:00.000-06:00

Having read about the Pink Sisters at Built St. Louis, I knew I had to check out this bastion of peace in the middle of the College Hill neighborhood. The church is an odd mix of several styles, so it's hard to really label it anything. But nonetheless, I greatly respect that the Sisters have stuck it out, even as the area around it has suffered over the last half century. Across the street is an overgrown forest, part of O'Fallon Park.

U.S. Steel Building, Old Empire Brewery

2012-01-31T08:00:00.000-06:00

On Sarah, just north of Clayton Avenue and the railroad tracks is this interesting building, decked out with some intriguing ornament.

Currently, a large metal shop sits behind the building, but it is clearly much newer than the tan brick building with wonderful neoclassical details.

The lion heads, most likely in terracotta, give this building its distinctive character. I looked around, and could not figure out what this building was used for, but it may have been the office for the Empire Brewery, which once sat on this site.

The tell-tale U.S. Steel logo, which is affixed above the front door and most likely is original, points to the history of the building. I suspect that the famous steel company had a factory of some sort here, and the current metal shop is the descendent of the unique office building shown here.

Roundhouse Remnants, Clayton Avenue

2012-01-30T08:00:00.000-06:00

Finally, after weeks of waiting for the weather to break, I made it out to the only extant ruins of a locomotive roundhouse left in the City of St. Louis. It is weed choked, and even in the winter much of the form of the of the building is obscured. You can see the roundhouse below, in the Sanborn map from the early 20th Century.

While the building is gone, the substructure is well preserved, and the actual turn table the locomotives would be turned on still survives. It seemed to be covered with blankets, but I saw no other evidence of people living on the site.

The large steel apparatus in the middle of the turn table perhaps provided electricity to the turntable, but I'm not sure.

What I found interesting is that I always had this image of the turntable being just that, a giant round disk that rotated all at once. In reality, the turntable, for lack of a better term, actually looks like more of a rotating bridge.

It is very cool to be able to see the round pit in which the turntable would have rotated, with a giant locomotive sitting on top of it.

It's hard to see, especially since dirt has been dumped on to of them, but the original concrete footings, presumably where the locomotives sat in the roundhouse, are still preserved as well. I know some roundhouses featured maintenance pits under the tracks, so the concrete may have been the sidewalks in between the rails. Nonetheless, it is a fascinating and forgotten relic of the past, right under the elevated lanes of Highway 40.

Bismarck Street and Bad Planning

2012-01-28T08:00:00.000-06:00

I love how Bismarck Street (now long gone due to urban renewal on the south riverfront in the 1960's) starts and stops thirty feet from its two ends. I know growing up, I assumed the City laid out all of the streets in a careful, Euclidian way, but in reality, just like modern suburban subdivisions, most of the streets in the city of St. Louis were laid out by private developers. In this case, it obviously suited the developer to put the orientation of Bismarck in a totally different place than the previous developer to the north. He also felt that Lyons Street should start at an alley as well.

Chicago and St. Louis: Differences in Ecclesiastical Archtitecture

2012-01-27T08:00:00.000-06:00

Recently, while in Chicago, Rob Powers and I drove around looking for all of the churches that I've always seen from the interstates and wondered what they were like. One in particular, right down in one of the oldest parts of the city is this church, which I suspect is a Jesuit church since their motto is emblazoned on the front. The aspect of this church that struck me most is that it is in a Baroque Revival Style, which is a revival of the style of architecture I studied in grad school. Typified by often ornate, and extremely dramatic decorations, the Baroque Style was perfected by one of my favorite sculptors and architects, Gian Lorenzo Bernini. You can see an example of his architecture and sculpture at my other, largely inactive blog on Roman Patina.

As I was photographing this church, I realized something; Chicago has all sorts of churches inspired by Baroque architecture, but for the life of me, I can't think of a major church anywhere in St. Louis that is.

I know St. Louis has tons of Romanesque and Gothic Revival churches, and I wonder if it reflects the places in Germany, Italy and Ireland that many immigrants hail in Europe.

Conversely, while the Italy and Germany have plenty of Baroque churches, perhaps Chicago's large Polish population influenced the construction of Baroque Revival churches, as the country is well-represented in that style. Or perhaps, it simply came down to the taste of the particular archbishops who ruled over the two cities. Personality of patrons has influenced art history throughout the last several thousands millennia, so that may simple be the case here.

Saint Louis Patina Wins Best Architecture Blog Award

2012-01-26T08:12:00.000-06:00

I was elated to learn Tuesday night at the Riverfront Times 2012 Best of the Web Awards Ceremony at the Old Rock House that I won the Best Architecture Blog Award. You can read the write-up here, and also you can find me in the print edition available at your local coffee house or market. You can also see me accepting the award here; it's a funny picture because I almost never wear that shirt and it is clearly that I really need a haircut. My photograph in the article is from in front of the Washington Terrace Gates, which I featured earlier this week (It all makes sense now, right?). Jennifer Silverberg, the photographer, did a great job and really captured the essence of my website in the portrait. Please stay tuned; I have all sorts of great posts coming up in the next couple of weeks, focusing on hidden treasures around St. Louis.

Welcome (Back) to Saint Louis Patina

2012-01-25T08:00:00.000-06:00

Maybe this is your first time here, or maybe you're a long time reader. Regardless, I want to welcome you to my site dedicated to the beauty, the patina of St. Louis. What began almost five years ago as a hobby has grown into an integral part of my life, and I want you to understand how lucky St. Louisans are to be blessed with some of the most stunning architecture in America.

I'm coming up on my 1500th post, so perhaps as a good way to start getting acquainted with my site is with these three tags, which break the city down into geographical parts:

North St. Louis

Central St. Louis

South St. Louis

If you have great memories, or even historic photos from the past of St. Louis architecture, I would love to hear from you. I have many contributors who have provided me with a wealth of fascinating stories about our great city.

In closing, I think my words I wrote a week ago, when speaking of the demolition of an historic church in Rock Hill, actually sums up perfectly the purpose behind this website:

I remarked to myself recently that Americans spend billions of dollars each year as tourists traveling to iconic, beautiful cities such as Rome, London or Paris in order to experience what humanity has accomplished in the fine art of building great, memorable and iconic cities. How sad it is that many Americans don't realize or care that we are free to make our own cities as beautiful as the aforementioned cities, but we choose a gas station over an historic structure. Let me ask you, would the city of Rome allow the demolition of an historic church for a gas station? If not, then why do we?

Washington Terrace Gate

2012-01-24T08:00:00.000-06:00

I recently had my picture taken in front of the gates of Washington Terrace. The houses are just as architecturally significant and beautiful as any mansion on the more famous Portland or Westmoreland Places. The color of the brick, combined with the rich black stone creates a harmonious composition just south of the intersection of Union and Delmar.

Gates of these type are spread throughout the city, from Compton Heights to the old Vandeventer Place, to Washington Terrace.

Built right around the World's Fair, when the city was just starting to creep out to where the fair was located in western Forest Park, these houses supposedly housed visiting dignitaries to the fair. I don't know if that's necessarily true, but it makes for a good story, perhaps.

The combination of old world elements, like the rampant lion and the stark, "Norman Revival" architecture of the gatehouse itself, makes a stern message: the titans of St. Louis industry and politics live here, and you're not welcome.

Below is an historic photograph, showing the guardhouse before any of the houses have been built. It's so strange to see nothing but wide open spaces in one of the most intact portions of the city.

The two architects for the gate, Harvey Ellis, designed City Hall, Compton Hill Watertower and other notable buildings, and George Mann designed the recently featured St. Vincent's Hospital off of the Rock Road.

Aisle 1 Gallery, Cherokee Street

2012-01-23T08:00:00.000-06:00

Aisle 1 Gallery, named in reference to its storefront's former use as a corner store, is one of my favorite art galleries in the city.

Part of the burgeoning art scene on Cherokee Street, galleries like Aisle 1 are possible because the hard work of its owners, Bryan Walsh and Jenn Carter, who live and maintain studios in the back of the gallery.

Filling an empty space with life, they've also spread out onto nearby buildings, such as the recently painted mural by Chicagoan Ruben Aguirre (with permission from the building owner, of course).

Come down and check out their opening this Friday at 7:00 PM.

Fountain Park and Lewis Place North of Page

2012-01-22T08:00:00.000-06:00

The area between Page Avenue and MLK Drive is a long suffering counterpoint to the better preserved areas to the south. This lone wood frame house is probably one of hte oldest houses on the block, built before the city came out this far.

Here and there, a few houses are left, and they're owned by fiercely proud people, several of who I had the opportunity to talk to while I was in the area touring the tornado damage last year.

Vacant lots, some with freshly planted grass, show that there has been substantial loss to the built environment. At what point does it become so degraded that everyone moves out? I've seen completely abandoned blocks further into the city.

But the good news is that the majestic church down the block serves as a reminder of what had been, and what can be here again. Well maintained and occupied, it's the type of structure that can anchor the revived neighborhood.

The Patina on Just One House, Lewis Place Neighborhood

2012-01-21T08:00:00.000-06:00

This is just one humble house on just another street in St. Louis, but just looking at the outside raises numerous questions, and wonder at how many stories it could tell. When did the porch get put in? When did the fake stone go up? When were the doors replaced? When was it abandoned? Who first built it?

The Neighborhoods Around Lewis Place

2012-01-20T08:00:00.000-06:00

North St. Louis is just one gigantic wasteland, right? Wrong, particularly just north of the Central West End, around the historic Lewis Place, the streets are lined with houses just as stately as those to the south of Delmar.

In fact, the entire western end of the city, stretching to the city limits, was once the wealthiest part of the city. While Lafayette Square was full of boarding houses and factories, its wealthy residents long departed, the areas around the West End teamed with some of the most important leaders in St. Louis industry, including the DeWitts, who lived on West Cabanne Place.

These neighborhoods survived suburban flight, but they're now at a critical stage where many of the residents, having bought the houses in the 1960's, are now passing away or moving out of the neighborhood. As with all neighborhoods, the question remains: who will replace them? Will young, energetic people move in and update the houses for the new millennium, or will suburban slumlords buy them and turn them into decrepit rental properties that breed crime?

Tan Brick Up North in the West End

2012-01-19T08:00:00.000-06:00

I live on the south side; its north and south streets make it hard to get a sense of place sometimes in relation to downtown, unless you're on Gravois. But up north, the street grid is actually aligned not with the cardinal directions, but rather logically with the shortest, "as the crow flies" route. And because of that, the streets and avenues of the north side often times provide you with fantastic views of downtown.

Likewise, out by Fountain Park, Lewis Place and the West End (not to be confused with the Central West End), the brick starts to change from that ubiquitous red to tan.

Obviously, tastes and styles change, but I almost wonder if brick manufacturers throughout St. Louis felt that need to compete and try to find the next trend in brick. Regardless, it's an interesting change of pace to see an area so full of non-red brick buildings.

Even the red brick has evolved on this magnificent former synagogue; the brick has a different, richer red surface coat compared to the classical red brick deeper in the city.

Rock Hill Presbyterian To Be Demolished

2012-01-18T08:00:00.000-06:00

I normally don't get too controversial on this website, instead seeking to building consensus and appreciation for the saving of the historic built environment of St. Louis and its surrounding communities. For the planned demolition of Rock Hill Presbyterian, I cannot be diplomatic. Simply put, Rock Hill's cynical ploy to offer to save the structure if private citizens can magically find hundreds of thousands of dollars in a short period is reprehensible. Reading their offer, I realized I had heard the same such hollow olive branch from the owners of an historic mansion recently demolished in Kirkwood: "We're not bad guys, we love old buildings, but it's your fault, you crazy preservationists, because you couldn't come up with the money to move the building before our arbitrarily short deadline ran out."

Let's review some of the facts:

1) Rock Hill is allowing U-Gas to demolish a church built by slaves before the Civil War for a gas station.
2) Rock Hill already has three gas stations, which is already a violation of its own ordinance against having so many gas stations.
3) Rock Hill, infamous as a speed trap, has numerous abandoned store fronts lining Manchester Road.
4) Rock Hill currently has its city hall in a strip mall/run-down building.

I remarked to myself recently that Americans spend billions of dollars each year as tourists in iconic, beautiful cities such as Rome, London or Paris in order to experience what humanity has accomplished in the art of the urban environment. How sad it is that many Americans don't realize or care that we are free to make cities as beautiful as the aforementioned cities, but we choose a gas station over an historic structure. Let me ask you, would Rome allow the demolition of an historic church for a gas station?

Perhaps the church can still be saved, but it will require your help to do it. Start by visiting this site as well as their Facebook page and see what you can do.

Luyties Monument, Bellefonatine Cemetery

2012-01-17T08:00:00.000-06:00

This is most likely the grave of Dr. Herman Luyties, the pioneer of homeopathic treatments for aches and pains. His company still survives. On the day we visited, the protective covering over the statue had fogged over, leaving the woman's sculpture inside shrouded in a surreal mist. The Grave Hunter has some additional information on the statue here.

Photos by Jeff Phillips

Post-War North St. Louis Construction

2012-01-16T08:00:00.000-06:00

There's often a prevailing view in St. Louis that nothing was built in the city after World War II except new skyscrapers downtown. In reality, out in the neighborhoods, corner stores were already being knocked down and replaced with gas stations such as the one below. Sadly, this trend continues, as the historic fabric of corners in St. Louis are degraded by the construction of parking dominated businesses such as Walgreens or Quiktrip. Also, new housing, known in local parlance as HUD housing, sprung up in neighborhoods of older housing stock, as can be seen above. These narrow houses actually fit into the street wall very well, but their poor construction has led many of them to be abandoned already, and demolished in many cases.

Photos by Jeff Phillips

Lafayette Square, December 2011

2012-01-15T08:00:00.000-06:00

Photo by Jeff Phillips

Late December, 2011

2012-01-14T08:00:00.000-06:00

Photo by Jeff Phillips

Shots Around St. Louis by Jeff Phillips

2012-01-13T08:00:00.000-06:00

I gave my friend in from China a tour around the city and parts of Illinois, and these are some of the shots he took.

Above, Armour Meat Packing Plant, and below a corner store in North City.

Below, I think this house is in Old North St. Louis.

Taking a shot of some houses while we were driving creates an interesting visual effect in the foreground.

The lines of the McKinley Bridge never cease to amaze me as well.

And finally, the view of downtown from the old National Stockyards. The day we were there the prostitutes out along Route 3 were wearing Santa Claus hats.

All photos by Jeff Phillips

Snow and St. Louis through the Centuries

2012-01-12T09:17:00.002-06:00

At times like these, I always wonder how St. Louis dealt with snow such as what we're seeing today. Certainly, back in the Nineteenth Century, there were no automobile crashes backing up interstates. Also, I have a feeling that most people lived relatively close to work and could walk there, albeit carefully since the cobblestones were probably slippery with snow. Likewise, would the streetcars, which served every section of the city, just glide through a couple of inches of snow like we're seeing right now? I know commuter railroads would probably have had little trouble. Are we as a society perhaps going backwards as far as accessibility and safety during inclement weather?

Cahokia Mounds

2012-01-11T08:00:00.000-06:00

I visited Cahokia Mounds last week, and was impressed again at what a stunning site it is. In particular, the pictures of what the site looked like originally caught my eye.

I think a lot of people forget that the largest city in America in Pre-Columbian times was right across the river from St. Louis.

Just like in St. Louis, some of the mounds were hauled away for fill, which was the case with the second largest mound at Cahokia, seen above.

it's actually very hard to capture Cahokia in photographs, as the site is universally green, except for one house right in the middle of the site.

Monk' Mound is truly impressive, and larger at the base than the Great Pyramid of Khufu in Egypt, so they say.

Looking out on a hazy day towards St. Louis, it's amazing to see the contrast of two cultures, separated by a millennium. St. Louis would be wise to better market Cahokia as one of the premier archeological sites in the world. Other than New York and Philadelphia, which possess one UNESCO World Heritage site each in their city boundaries, no other American city has the distinction of having a UNESCO site so close to it.

Missouri Pacific Roundhouses in Between Compton and Cardinal North of Chouteau

2012-01-10T08:00:00.000-06:00

I also determined that there was a large brick roundhouse right in the middle of the Mill Creek Valley just east of Compton Ave. The two Sanborn maps show the whole complex; for a sense of place, the little wood roundhouse is the same structure in both maps.

No traces of the roundhouses remain, and the entire area is now occupied by what I think was the Villa Lighting Warehouse.

Roundhouse, Chouteau and Vandeventer

2012-01-09T08:00:00.000-06:00

All throughout St. Louis locomotives needed somewhere to park, and the roundhouse, a type of structure almost entirely vanished from the region (except in East St. Louis, which you can see here and here) provided the much-needed space to store multiple locomotives in a small space. This one, located at the end of the railyards west of downtown parallel to Chouteau Avenue, leaves no trace of its existence.

Handy Sanborn Maps Key

2012-01-08T08:00:00.000-06:00

Since I often use Sanborn Maps as illustrations, I thought it would helpful to provide the key to all of the symbols used by the insurance company.

Krater, Bellefontaine Cemetery

2012-01-07T08:00:00.000-06:00

I had never noticed this huge granite krater-style tombstone before last week.

Great Site on St. Louis Mayors

2012-01-06T08:00:00.000-06:00

I found this great site at the St. Louis Public Library that gives short biographies of all of the mayors of St. Louis.

Council Tower Brick Mural Nearing Completion

2012-01-05T08:00:00.000-06:00

I was going to document every stage of the relaying of the brick mural on the east side of the Council Tower, but they worked so fast I didn't get a chance to photograph it until it was almost done. Apparently, the different colors of the mural are achieved through paint, and not different glazed bricks. I will be excited to see it done.

St. Louis Streets Index

2012-01-04T08:00:00.000-06:00

Ever wonder how your street in the city received its name? Click here for the page at the St. Louis Public Library to find out.

St. Liborius, Revisited

2012-01-03T08:00:00.000-06:00

I stopped by St. Liborius, which anchors the bend of St. Louis Avenue in St. Louis Place. Maybe one day buildings will line this street again. See my photos from several years ago here.

Louis Sullivan Mausolea in St. Louis and Chicago

2012-01-02T08:00:00.000-06:00

I've looked at Louis Sullivan's masterpiece, the Wainwright Tomb in Bellefontaine Cemetery in the past, but a couple of weeks ago I had the opportunity to visit the other two mausolea designed by the great architect in Chicago's Graceland Cemetery.

The first one, the Ryerson Mausoleum is relatively conservative, though even in the Egyptian Revival structure there are traces of Sullivan's innovation, first with the use of black granite and also with the overall proportions, making the tomb stand out from its surroundings.

The Getty Mausoleum is more stereotypically Sullivanesque, with its ornate and anti-classical metalwork and stonework.

Read more about the two mausolea here, at the Graceland Cemetery website.

The contrast between Sullivan's tombs, and their Neo-Classical, Beaux-Arts neighbors demonstrates just how innovative he was when most architecture still looked to the past for inspiration.

Busch Mausoleum, Revisited

2012-01-01T08:00:00.000-06:00

Old Farmhouse, Lafayette Square

2011-12-31T08:00:00.000-06:00

There is another house dating from the early years of the Common Fields on Mackay Street. This house was apparently only one story originally, but then a second floor in brick was added at a later date.

The Sanborn Maps helpfully label the building as "stone, 1st fl."

Old Stone Building, Lafayette Square

2011-12-30T07:00:00.000-06:00

I learned of the existence of a very old stone house on a side street in Lafayette Square, predating the platting of the area in the 19th Century.

You can see it in the Sanborn maps, and its clear orientation against the street grid that was laid out by the city when it began to take over the common fields south of the city.

This building is in bad, bad shape, whatever its original use was. I suspect it might have been a farmhouse or other outbuilding in the Adams-Motard Farm, but I can't find much information about this angle.

One wall has collapsed, and the rest of the building is not in very good shape.

I wonder what the long term plans are for this building; there used to be a brick building next door, but it was torn down recently. Hopefully it can be restored, and the neighborhood near and can move from industrial to residential.

Does anyone know more about this building?

Touring the Northside

2011-12-29T08:00:00.000-06:00

It's always interesting to take someone up to the North Side inside Grand for the first time; last week, I took my friend Jeff, in from China, up around some of my favorite neighborhoods. The desolation, and houses decimated by brick theft, were shocking to Jeff.

I'd always been intrigued by this small, wood frame building, sitting as the last remaining structure on the block just west of St. Augustine. Why this building survived, and nothing else, is one of the great mysteries of this section of St. Louis Place. You can see it in the midst of other outbuildings in the Sanborn map below.

"What happened to that house?!" was Jeff's first reaction to this brick-rustled house nearby.

But all is not lost, as these two houses below illustrate, up at the top of the hill near the water towers.

The house above was abandoned until it was rehabbed a few years ago. The house below is well maintained, and shows that someone still cares on this block.

Further on up, near O'Fallon Park, the streets are lined with numerous, beautiful houses, well maintained and anchoring this corner of the Northside. If only this level of care could spread further from this area, the entire Northside would be a stunning place to live.

It's always fun to show people what the north half of the city is really like, good and bad, and I had a great day showing Jeff around the Northside.

St. Mary's Infirmary

2011-12-28T08:00:00.000-06:00

I don't have much to say about the long-suffering St. Mary's Infirmary on Papin Street on the near South side. Stripped of all of its historical context, it sits vacant, and rapidly deteriorating a block from Chouteau Avenue.

I expect that it will be unceremoniously knocked down at the behest of AmerenUE some day in the next couple of years.

Plans for its conversion to condos seems to have died with the real estate bubble bursting.

A back wall has collapsed, and the evidence of spalling inside the wall on the east side of the building was apparent when viewed last week.

I'm afraid I'm going to drive by one day and see that the entire east wall has fallen off of the building.

Shortly thereafter, the news media, hungry for another story that supports their narrative that the city is falling apart, will report that an emergency demolition has commenced.

And one last vestige of one of the oldest parts of the cit will be gone forever.

See pictures of the interior, from several years ago, here.

Here is my post from three years ago of the same building; sadly nothing has changed except for the worse.

Armour Meat Packing and the Future

2011-12-27T08:00:00.000-06:00

Driving around the old National Stockyards, it's shocking to see how much has changed. There are new roads crisscrossing the area, while other roads are now closed. The new Mississippi River Bridge's connector is passing right through the area, forever changing the topography, and probably land prices.

Near Armour, brush had been cleared recently, which is a surprise since no one has maintained anything at the site in years. Will it be meeting the wrecking ball soon, as its owner seeks to sell the property in anticipation for the new bridge?

Venice Power Plant Demolition

2011-12-26T08:00:00.000-06:00

I've got the bad feeling that the Venice Power Station is being torn down. I drove by on Thursday, and large portions of the building have disappeared, and the windows have been removed from the main building, revealing what looks to be an empty interior. See pictures of it during its operation at Built St. Louis.

Merry Christmas from Saint Louis Patina!

2011-12-25T08:00:00.000-06:00

After three years of waging war on the crack dealers and other criminals on my block, for the first time I felt comfortable placing Christmas lights on the front of my house without fearing they'd be vandalized.

I particularly like how I ran an extension cord out of a broken window in my basement door, down the side of my house and then hooked up my strings of lights. Don't judge me.

Old Federal Courthouse

2011-12-24T08:00:00.000-06:00

Now the criminal court building for St. Louis, it was originally the Federal Courthouse and Customs House.

Historic Photos of Oak Grove Cemetery and Mausoleum

2011-12-23T08:00:00.000-06:00

I returned to Oak Grove Cemetery recently and met with the staff, learning many interesting facts about the mausoleum and grounds.

They were also kind enough to give me an original promotional brochure from shortly after the mausoleum's opening.

Above is the upper floor of the central rotunda, and below is the lower floor of the majestic space.

I get the impression that the marketing was geared toward making the act of burial and visiting of graves a cleaner and more scientific method compared to the old, muddy graveyards of the past.

I love the stained glass window in this chapel below; it is clearly based off of the Sistine Madonna by Raphael in Dresden, Germany.

Here are some of the other chapels and hallways in the mausoleum, showing the nice white Carrara marble that adorns the walls.

I'm creeped out by mausolea; I'm used to the old fashioned cemetery burials where all of my relatives are buried. It's interesting to see how different people react to different burial methods.

The owners are in the process of raising donations to repair the building back to its original state; on the day I was there construction workers were already at work repairing portions of the central dome. Please consider donating to their cause; I can vouch that the money is actually going to repairs, as the scaffolding was not there the first time I visited. Let's not let it turn into the type of cemetery the brochure railed against decades ago.

Cherokee Brewery

2011-12-22T08:00:00.000-06:00

Cherokee Brewery, once located in the 2700 block of Cherokee Street, is long gone, but traces of it still exist. Above, you can see the brewery on Compton and Dry's aerial depiction of St. Louis from 1875. Below is a postcard of the brewery; you might recognize the tall central building which is the stock house.

By the time the Sanborn Maps had documented the complex in the early 1900's, the building to the left of the stockhouse was already gone (eventually replaced by what would become 2720), but the building on the corner had become a movie theater, albeit not a very large one. It is now a parking lot.

If you look closely, you can see the markings on the wall of the former stockhouse, showing where the corner building once attached to the taller building. There are caves under the building, which are flooded with water; it is debatable whether the caves are natural, man-made or a hybrid of both.

I'm always impressed by the massiveness of this building, which you can read more about here.

Records state that the stock house was built in 1890, but it seems to have similar massing to a Cherokee Brewery building in the Compton and Dry image from 1875. Perhaps they replaced the building with a similar sized, but better built stock house. It's hard to say for certain, but it is a unique relic of the more rural era in Cherokee Street's history.

Guest Post: Taverns in the Town

2011-12-21T08:00:00.000-06:00

Mark, a reader of my website, sent me some photos of corner bars in South St. Louis and Lemay; long-time neighborhood institutions, these taverns are rapidly disappearing.

But luckily, many of them still carry on, beneficiaries of a loyal clientele and stable neighborhoods.

It seems like the southern end of our city and the near suburbs have a larger portion of these corner bars, where you could once get brain sandwiches or a bucket of beer delivered by your children to your house, so they say.

I want to thank Mark for taking the time to send me these images, and for reminding me how cool many of these bars are, and how they help anchor the neighborhoods they serve.

All photos by Mark Preston

The Riverfront, Desolation

2011-12-20T08:00:00.000-06:00

With the recent removal and dismantlement of the Admiral, the riverfront has lost one of the last (if not particularly healthy) beacons of activity on what was once a bustling wharf.

When I first moved to St. Louis, there were at least three more riverboats on the levee: the Robert E. Lee, the McDonalds, and the Burger King with its Inaugural minesweeper.

All those are now gone, and all that remains seems to be the riverboat cruises.

Which is sad, because from the riverfront, you can view many of St. Louis's greatest engineering and civic icons; everything is huge down here, built on a scale befitting a great city. What will the future hold? Honestly, probably not much, but at least you can still witness these grand structures without interruption.

Near North Riverfront

2011-12-19T08:00:00.000-06:00

I love the area of the riverfront north of Laclede's Landing; anchored by the slender Cotton Belt Warehouse (see it here, here and here), the area yearns for reinvestment.

Also, I realized I had photographed this warehouse in the past as well. It is a legacy of the area's importance in the storage of produce and other foodstuffs.

This old power plant, shorn of its smokestack, is another interesting building sitting along the riverfront.

But the Ashley Street Power Plant never ceases to amaze me; it is an ornate building, built in the Beaux-Arts style, and is a temple to electricity, and now steam.

St. Anthony of Padua, from Gravois and Michigan Avenues

2011-12-18T08:00:00.000-06:00

I love how St. Anthony of Padua serves as a landmark all over the south side of Gravois Avenue.

St. Augustine, In the Wilderness

2011-12-17T08:00:00.000-06:00

I love how the brick glows a golden orange color in the late autumn afternoon.

Sad State of Buildings in North St. Louis

2011-12-16T08:00:00.000-06:00

I decided to check up on some of the victims of brick theft in several north side neighborhoods. Houses that I photographed earlier this year or even last year cling to their existence, as battered as they are.

Old North St. Louis is holding up, but I am saddened to see houses that I first saw five years ago continuing to sit empty. This stately house below would go for several hundred thousand dollars in some south side neighborhoods.

I really like this alley house, a remnant of the time when this neighborhoods was so densely settled that houses sprouted up on secondary streets.

Sadly, nothing is happening with the burned out hulk of Fourth Baptist Church, which could be a center of life and activity in the neighborhood if properly restored.

Historic, If Somewhat Damaged, Storefront Threatened on South Jefferson

2011-12-15T08:00:00.000-06:00

A building that has long sat dormant after what appears to have been an abortive attempt at rehabilitation is now on the chopping block, according to Cherokee Street News.

Admittedly, the building looks a little rough around the edges when you look at the roof line, in what has rightly been termed a bad mansard.

But it's critical that the street wall of Jefferson Avenue, the heart of the city east of Grand, maintain its integrity, so it does not turn into Natural Bridge Avenue, a street now largely denuded of its storefronts and its character.

Supposedly it's going to be demolished for greenspace, despite the previously mentioned vacant lot across the street that could serve that purpose.

Crunden Martin Fire

2011-12-14T08:00:00.000-06:00

Ironically, as I was photographing this building to document its post-fire condition, a new fire was already smoldering deep inside the old Crunden-Martin building. Reports that homeless people may have accidentally started the fire with wood provided by charities remain unsubstantiated, and certainly the fire would have destroyed evidence of their presence.

I have covered Chouteau's Landing frequently in the past, and in light of my look at the Cupples Warehouses last week, I see some similarities, with obvious differences in time. Chouteau's Landing actually still possessed many working factories at a time when Laclede's Landings was being redeveloped, and while the Cupples buildings were sitting empty and neglected. Fortunes have turned, and I hope this amazing area of the city can be saved before any more buildings are lost.

A few year's back, there was a beautiful proposal for redevelopment, but it appears to have gone nowhere.

Cupples Warehouses and the Future

2011-12-13T08:00:00.000-06:00

There has been all sorts of beautiful renovations downtown south of Market Street, but the area continues to lack something that will make it a truly vibrant neighborhood. Here are some of my suggestions.

First of all, while they should not necessarily be eliminated, the entrance and exit ramps onto the elevated lanes of Highway 40 are intrusive, ugly, rapidly deteriorating and most importantly, they waste space. When the rebuilding of these structures occur, they should be reconfigured to fit in more hospitably with the street grid.

Likewise, there are huge swaths of "greenspace" that waste valuable real estate, often times for the sake of safety. I've been told that the government didn't want buildings across the street from the federal courthouse for safety reasons, but that is totally illogical since you can drive right by the courthouse anyway. After living in Washington, DC in the post-9-11 world, I watched as security barriers went up all around that city, despite many of the measures merely ruining public space as opposed to protecting anyone. For example, the federal courthouse in St. Louis has Jersey barriers up around the courthouse; they make the place look secure, but in reality would only stop a truck bomb from getting a grand total of another ten or so feet closer to the building. Certainly they make the area look bad, at minimal benefit to safety.

Also, work to make Walnut Street and actually appealing street to walk down; as can be seen below, the builders of City Hall clearly intended Walnut to be the grand vista upon which to approach City Hall. It is marred by a bridge from the jail to the courthouse. While I know it would cost large amounts of money, perhaps the bridge could be turned into a tunnel under the street.

Finally, embrace the juxtaposition between new and old; the area south of Market has lost much of its original character, but that does not mean that a neighborhood with its own character can't rise in its place.

Let's be honest, the whole area is dominated by courthouses, which in general are places people don't want to be unless they work inside. My experience is that many courthouse areas tend to take on a similar pallor as the courthouses around them. Likewise, government office buildings seem to have the same effect on creating drab neighborhoods. Consequently, the area should have a strong mix of all different types of businesses and housing to create a strong community in the Cupples Warehouse District.

One More Cupples Warehouse

2011-12-12T08:00:00.000-06:00

The only other Cupples Warehouse sitting empty, besides #7, is this one. In some ways, not counting the collapsed roof, this building, which is flagged for renovation, has more problems with its brick facade than its long suffering neighbor.

I love this railroad tunnel in the side of the building; I can only imagine what it must have looked like as a train pulled into the siding, allowing for goods to be unloaded into the warehouse.

The aspect of the Cupples Warehouses that I like the most is that while none of the buildings are identical, they all have a certain flavor to them that unifies them.

There is still a large amount of density down here, and the loss of even one building could hurt that.

Tomorrow, we will look at the future of the area, and see what it portends.

Wrong Way, Cupples Warehouses

2011-12-11T08:00:00.000-06:00

You're right, this is the wrong way to make a downtown thrive: crashing interstates and absurdly designed entrance and exist ramps through once vibrant neighborhoods and historic structures that are so prized today.

Power Substation, Cupples Station

2011-12-10T08:00:00.000-06:00

One improvement that could greatly aid the area, and free up much needed real estate, would be to move the power substation to a less prominent location, perhaps south of the interstate.

The Westin at Cupples Station

2011-12-08T08:00:00.000-06:00

The renovation of the five easternmost buildings in the Cupples Warehouse complex illustrate the potential for redevelopment, provided the buildings are stabilized before being allowed to deteriorate by irresponsible owners.

Cupples Warehouse #7: The Future?

2011-12-07T08:00:00.000-06:00

As already seen on the Preservation Research Office's post, the saving of exterior walls has occurred throughout the country. My experience with the saving of curtain walls, even when the rest of the building has been torn down, was in Washinton, DC in the 900 block of F Street NW. Above, you can witness what is essentially a completely free standing brick facade ten stories tall, supported by nothing but steel bracing, as the type proposed for Cupples #7. It begs the question of course, this was only temporary, right? Wrong, it was in this state for at least four years, so the sustainability of these bracings is considerable. Below, you can see the finished product: a brand new building built behind the historic facades with the bracing removed.

And heck, you can even have brick walls floating in mid-air as you can see the in photograph below. Yes, the two small building facades are no longer touching the earth, but are held in place by steel bracing.

The finished product is aesthetically pleasing, and the walls are now anchored to the ground and ready for tenants. Amazing.

Below are more buildings whose front facades were retained after the buildings behind them were torn down. Again, you can see how excavations behind the facades are possible for the new foundations of the building that will rise behind the old storefronts.

Fast forward, and the buildings are complete, and instead of what was once a wide open space, we have a densely built-up block, with the original alley still in place, as it has been for two hundred years.

Even without steel bracing, brick has shown resiliency throughout history; take the Basilica of Constantine and Maxentius in Rome. Despite numerous earthquakes, a complete collapse of the vaulted roof, centuries of neglect and exposure to rain, the building still stands largely intact.

Likewise, in response to those who believe that taxpayers' money (which hasn't been confirmed yet anyway) should not be used to shore up the Cupples Warehouse, I point to the Coliseum. Damaged by earthquakes, the popes spent considerable taxpayer money to stabilize the building, understanding that some buildings are too important to fail, as demonstrated by the brick buttresses built on the ends of the outer wall of the arena. While I'm not claiming the Cupples Warehouses are as famous as the Coliseum, I believe that the cost of temporary steel buttressing can be justified in the return on the investment, both economically and culturally, when the building is renovated one day.

Cupples Warehouse #7

2011-12-06T08:00:00.000-06:00

There has been a lot of disinformation, and outright lies being spread about the condition of Cupples Warehouse #7. Read the facts here, at the Cultural Resource Office's website; scroll down to page 28 to read the official opinion.

Perhaps the most infuriating disinformation is coming from KMOV, which is blindly reporting that a renovation of the building could cost $60 million. The report offers no source for that figure, nor does it address the Preservation Board's finding that there is no evidence to support that cost.

As Steve Patterson stated on KMOV, the behavior of McGowan-Walsh is inexcusable, and it is behavior that no private individual could get away with. They have not paid property taxes on the property for years, essentially holding the building hostage in retaliation for not receiving permission to demolish the warehouse and the memory of their gross negligence. Could you get away with not paying property taxes for years? I doubt it, but if you're a big developer, I guess the laws don't apply to you.

I took the time, unlike KMOV and other news outlets, to actually go out to the warehouse and inspect the building myself. While I am not a structural engineer, I have seen lots of deteriorated brick walls in my life, and I think I know one when I see one. First off, I saw no evidence of brick falling from the walls anywhere on the street or sidewalk.

The roof has indeed collapsed, and as you can see through this window, light (and the elements) can now stream through the hole in the roof.

The motivation of the Treasurer to advocate for demolition is obvious; the brand new (and seemingly pointless) parking garage south of Cupples #7 is largely hidden from Spruce Street. Which is a good thing, as parking garages are necessary evils in an urban environment, and should be placed in less desirable land such as the lots backing up to the Highway 40 elevated lanes.

For the life of me, I cannot figure out why such a large garage was built in that location, as there are very few buildings nearby that need parking--other than Cupples #7 if it were renovated. Otherwise, other than one other beautifully restored Cupples Warehouse, the rest of the buildings in the area have their own, ample parking garages for themselves. Is the Treasurer regretting his decision to build the garage, and hoping that a demolished #7 will magically improve usage?

I am not overly concerned by the collapse of the roof for this important reason: many of these industrial buildings were actually designed to allow the floors to collapse easily, thus sparing the exterior walls that could then be reused. Theoretically, if there was a fire in the building, the wood interior was designed in many buildings to collapse in on itself; in many factories the floor joists weren't even attached to the curtain walls.

So yes, there has been major interior collapse, but I argue that the building was engineered in that way to protect the outside walls.

Tomorrow I will show examples of seemingly fragile brick exterior walls that were recycled and saved, and other examples of the durability of brick through the centuries--even when lacking a roof.

Cupples Station Warehouses: The Early History

2011-12-05T08:00:00.000-06:00

St. Louis has had a long love/hate relationship for the blocks of the city just south of Market Street. What was once an actual stream, Mill Creek, slowly transformed over the course of the city's history. In a way, the history of Mill Creek in downtown mirrors the rising and falling fortunes of St. Louis itself.

Damned to create Chouteau's Pond, as seen here at 7th Street, the area was the recreational center of the small, new city of St. Louis. Industry, which would come to dominate the area, originally manifested in Chouteau's Mill at 14th Street.

But in a turn which would reflect its troubled history, the area and pond became so polluted that the pond was covered with a giant sewer, and the area became the first staging grounds for the nascent railroad industry in St. Louis.

The Union Depot, located at 12th Street, was one of the first railroad stations to take advantage of the huge (and still extant) railyards that filled in the empty land left behind after the draining and sewering of Mill Creek.

But surprisingly, but in a way that very much reflects the strange dichotomy between the commercial, governmental and industrial aspects of downtown, the Four Courts Courthouse and jail were located in what would become the Cupples Station district. Long demolished and replaced with courthouses to the north of Mill Creek along Market Street, industry crept northward. When Samuel Cupples began to build the warehouses and freight depots that would bear his name, downtown was undergoing a transformation into the modern St. Louis of the early 20th Century.

The freight depot was intended to move goods back and forth from factories in St. Louis and further afield, all accessing the tunnel under downtown that lead to the Eads Bridge. By the time the Poplar Street Bridge and its accompanying interstates came to downtown, the Cupples Warehouses were already threatened with demolition as the railroad began to be seen as obsolete, and the industry which once filled the warehouses began to disappear or move from the city. Tomorrow, we will examine how the warehouses, now long recognized for their beauty and potential reuse, still face the threat of demolition.

The remaining Sanborn Maps show the area at the turn of the century, moving west from 7th Street along Spruce Street to 14th Street.

All historic images are from 'This is Our St. Louis.'

This Week: Cupples Warehouses and the Future of the South Side of Downtown

2011-12-04T08:00:00.000-06:00

All this week we'll be looking at the Cupples Warehouses and how their future can decide the future of the south end of downtown. In the meantime, read this great post from Vanishing St. Louis as an introduction, and view these pictures of the area at Built St. Louis from several years ago.

Randy Vines at the Pevely Dairy Protest

2011-12-03T08:00:00.000-06:00

60 Followers?

2011-12-01T12:58:00.001-06:00

Hey all, I'm up to 59 followers; I would like all of my readers to share my blog with their friends, and let's see if we can get to 60 followers! Thanks, Chris.

Full Moon Over Art Hill

2011-11-30T08:00:00.000-06:00

Mike Stasny

2011-11-29T08:00:00.000-06:00

Pevely Dairy Building Will Still Stand For Now

2011-11-28T08:00:00.000-06:00

As of today, the Pevely Dairy Complex in Midtown will not be demolished, as SLU has withdrawn its appeal of the denial for a demolition permit.

Jefferson Avenue, South St. Louis

2011-11-27T08:00:00.000-06:00

One of these days I'm actually going to get out of my car and walk the full length of Jefferson from I-44 to Broadway, and document what a wonderful street it is architecturally.

Kutis Funeral Home

2011-11-26T08:00:00.000-06:00

I've always been intrigued by the Kutis Funeral Home on Gravois at Arsenal; it's an odd building architecturally, though certainly perhaps because of its use it needed to be.

A Little of Benton Park West

2011-11-25T08:00:00.000-06:00

I love the streets and alleys of Benton Park West, where there's so much potential.

Gothic Revival Church, Benton Park West

2011-11-24T08:00:00.003-06:00

I love Gothic architecture, and there's plenty of it in the city.

Dutchtown: Good and Bad

2011-11-23T08:00:00.002-06:00

There are a lot of beautiful houses in Dutchtown, such as the well-kept one above. Below, I low this little detail of what was once a storefront, but apparently they also included an arched doorway through the front. I'm not sure about the story behind it.This Italianate house also is amazing on Chippewa; it just keep going out the back. I wonder if this was a smaller building that was built out over the years after it became an apartment building.All is not well in Dutchtown, as this building attests. It looks like it's in an advanced state of collapse on the upper floors.Likewise, this sturdy rowhouse is now boarded up, despite being well-built. It looks like something you might see in Hyde Park or St. Louis Place. I hope these abandoned buildings aren't harbingers for the future.

Varied Housing Stock, Dutchtown

2011-11-22T08:00:00.002-06:00

I love the varied different types of housing in Dutchtown; while the neighborhood was first built in the first decades of the Twentieth Century, it has styles reaching all the way to the present day.Four family flats abound, but the Mansard roofed houses are some of the more unique.Three story houses stand next to one story houses, and the interesting mix makes the neighborhoods one of the most interesting in the city.

The Importance of the Street Wall, Dutchtown

2011-11-21T15:30:00.003-06:00

I'm concerned about the future of Dutchtown; it has been wracked with some of the worst violence in the city this last year, and it is also the most dense neighborhood in the city. I've often said, so goes Dutchtown, so goes the rest of the South Side.The rowhouses create such a wonderful sense of being in a real neighborhood; the houses, often built in a row of identical or slightly different houses, create a rhythm that is pleasing to the eye.Whether it's one story shotguns with their crenelated tops, or two family flats with their facades of red brick, quality of construction always pervades.I am always amazed at the houses I see every time I'm down south of Chippewa and north of Meramec. It seems there are countless streets to be discovered in the huge area.

Bomb Door

2011-11-20T08:00:00.002-06:00

Bell Telephone Building Detail

2011-11-19T08:00:00.000-06:00

Plane over Cherokee Street

2011-11-18T08:00:00.001-06:00

My House

2011-11-17T08:00:00.004-06:00

Back when the Compton and Dry aerial print of the city of St. Louis was published, my street wasn't even cut through yet, but you could see how the small farmhouse that once sat just south of my house had a fence on the property line. I wonder if my neighbors north of me want to know that their houses are built on an filled-in sinkhole...My house appears on the Sanborn Map sometime after 1910, when my house was built along with five other shotguns houses on my block. The farmhouse seems to have been torn down shortly after that time, and two four-family apartments went up in the void.I never realized it, but my old garage, torn down before I bought the house, had its own address: Rear 2928 S. Compton, which is interesting because my house is 2929.

Chouteau at Grand Boulevard

2011-11-16T08:00:00.004-06:00

One hundred years ago, there wasn't a lot at the intersection of Grand and Chouteau; there was a quarry, some houses, but no signs of the massive buildings that would one day fill the area.On a recent Saturday, I had the pleasure of joining a picnic at the intersection, in one of the large, empty lawns that stretch out to the southeast.It's striking how elevated the location is, and it provides stunning views of the the city from midtown all the way to downtown.As the Twentieth Century unfolded, institutions like SLU Hospital were built, along with the Pevely Dairy.Sadly, despite such huge building being around, the area is desolate, and not just because of the closure of the Grand Viaduct. Frankly, there is nowhere to walk to, or from in this area, and the only passersby seemed to be transferring bus lines.I understand on the edges of cities desolation is perhaps normal, but in the heart of the city?

Pevely Dairy Building

2011-11-15T08:00:00.005-06:00

A sturdy, well-built building, the Pevely Dairy almost certainly was constructed with steel reinforced concrete piers that hold up the floors and roof. Consequently, its floor plan is easily adaptable to changing times. Bookending one side of the Mill Creek Valley with the Budweiser sign on the other, the complex is a landmark in Midtown, and must be saved, if nothing more than the building on the corner.

One House, One Hundred Years

2011-11-14T08:00:00.007-06:00

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.

Missing Roof

2011-11-13T08:00:00.003-06:00

This house looks all messed up; judging from next door, there was once a much larger roof on this house.

City Hall, Cape Girardeau

2011-11-12T08:00:00.001-06:00

Covered Bridge, Burfordsville

2011-11-11T08:00:00.002-06:00

While now closed to traffic, the Burfordsville covered bridge still allows visitors to walk across the river to photograph the mill.One of only four or five covered bridges left in Missouri, the bridge used a new technology that included a steel tie bar in addition to the two crossed beams.The roof was not just to protect the bridge, but also offered shelter in thunderstorms to travelers caught in the rain.At harvest time, all of the farmers from the surrounding area would come together at the mill and bridge to grind their grain and celebrate the fall season.

Bollinger Mill Turbine Reservoir

2011-11-10T08:00:00.005-06:00

Beneath the mill itself is one of the most unique spaces I have ever seen; instead of having a chute for the water to flow through, the water would simply fill up this reservoir, forcing water through the turbine.The whole space has an ethereal quality to it, and I can only imagine what it would have sounded like with the turbine spinning below the water. You can see the two long drive shafts sticking out of the water, still connected to the turbines.

Substructure and Water Intake, Bollinger Mill

2011-11-09T08:00:00.004-06:00

Since the turbine was inside of the mill in the subbasement, water traveled into the mill via a large intake hole above the dam.The screen, which would be cleaned periodically, trapped debris and twigs from entering the mill and clogging the turbines.The water would then travel through the turbine and out through the hole at the base of the mill, below the dam.The other holes were either for light, or for water overflow.

Bollinger Mill, Interior

2011-11-08T08:00:00.005-06:00

While many have an a romantic image of a giant waterwheel turning on the side of a rustic rural mill, in reality most mills had converted over to steel turbines by the turn of the 20th Century.While Bollinger Mill no longer operates, you can still see the various machines, gears and other accoutrements that transformed water power into machine power.The massive timbers holding up the building are impressive in their own right.Throughout the mill are various signs that were hand painted by the operators; the spelling sometimes can be interesting.

Bollinger Mill, Burfordsville

2011-11-07T08:00:00.004-06:00

This week we'll be looking at the stunning Bollinger Mill in Burfordsville, Missouri. It is accompanied by one of Missouri's last covered bridges.The mill is a massive structure, and is probably one of the largest in rural Missouri; the stone portion is older than the brick structure above.The weeds had gotten awfully high, and it was somewhat difficult to take pictures of the mill with the bridge.What is truly wonderful is the continuing rural setting of the mill; stretching out from the mill is nothing by a small town on one side and pasture and fields on the other side of the river.

Coldest Beer in Cape County

2011-11-06T08:00:00.002-06:00

Cape County Courthouse, Jackson

2011-11-05T08:00:00.002-05:00

This courthouse is weird; I've never seen a neoclassical portal with the entrance below the columns. I think this building was renovated at one point at the front door was lowered below its original location.

Randolph County Courthouse, Chester, Illinois

2011-11-04T08:00:00.003-05:00

I wonder if these two stones are what's left of the old Randolph County Courthouse. What's there now is clearly from the 1960's or 70's, and is a strong candidate for a Bad Mansard.

Chester, Illinois

2011-11-03T08:00:00.003-05:00

Chester, Illinois is sited on a bluff high above the Mississippi River, with two long valleys on either side of the downtown, built along the ridge line.Buildings sit right on the edge of the bluff, such as this church.I am amazed at how close the church is to the edge of the hill.I was surprised at how little development there was around the courthouse, which apparently was demolished for a 1970's modern building.Below is a building from the 1850's, presumable one of the oldest buildings in the town.The jail below is a remarkable little structure that has a castle-like look to it.
The downtown was quiet on Sunday afternoon, but the buildings are relatively intact, if a bit worn.

Cherokee Street Details

2011-11-02T08:00:00.004-05:00

Every time I'm down on Cherokee Street, I notice something new, whether it's been there for one hundred years, or one month.

North Broadway, Revisited

2011-11-01T08:00:00.005-05:00

As the new Mississippi River Bridge slowly rises north of downtown, it will be interesting to see what happens to the largely desolate stretch of North Broadway that now runs under the approaches to the bridge.Many of the old refrigerated warehouses are vast, allowing for relatively easy refurbishment for new uses.The American Bag Company is one business that has occupied several buildings in a row.I find the peaked roof of this building amusing, as there is no roof behind the triangular facade.

Busch Stadium and the Architectural Legacy of St.. Louis

2011-10-31T08:00:00.005-05:00

I was going to do this post about two years ago, but then I completely forgot. I thought to commemorate the Cardinals' eleventh World Series victory, I would look at the third Busch Stadium and how it borrows and celebrates earlier architectural monuments in St. Louis.First, and perhaps the most obvious, is the Eads Bridge, one of the most important bridges in the world; as you can see, the main entrances to Busch feature giant arches reminiscent of the bridge.See more of historic bridges here, from some of my earlier posts.Likewise, the ornamental terrcotta panels clearly show the influence of the Merchants Laclede Building on Fourth Street, once nicknamed the Wall Street of the Midwest.Look at more of St. Louis and other cities' historic office buildings here.Finally and perhaps the most obvious, the nearby Cupples Warehouses influence the overall composition of the stadium.I was remarking this weekend about how important the Cardinals are to St. Louis; in a metropolitan area where it is a spectator sport to try and watch the city fail, no one dares lay a hand on the one of the most storied teams in baseball. They can take away 500,000 people, but they can't take away the Cardinals.

Tearing Down Buildings for the Gateway Mall

2011-10-30T08:00:00.004-05:00

I-55

2011-10-29T08:00:00.005-05:00

I wish I could go back in time and tell the mayor of St. Louis that he was making the biggest mistake of his life by building the interstates through the heart of the city. Sixty years later, our nation is addicted to a product that can only be procured through great expense or from nations who use the revenue to oppress their own people, or even attack us. And more importantly, the interstates eviscerated the city, robbing it of cohesion, thousands of houses, and customers who would have added millions in tax dollars every year.

Smulekoffs Furniture, Downtown Cedar Rapids, Iowa

2011-10-28T08:00:00.006-05:00

I love this furniture store in downtown Cedar Rapids. Look at that sign stretching up the side of the building.It's been jazzed up in the 1950's by taking an older building and adding some Modernist touches.Such as removing the first floor walls and putting in large plate glass windows and streamlined aluminum detailing.Even the doors received a jazzing up in the renovation.

Quaker Oats Factory, Cedar Rapids, Iowa

2011-10-27T08:00:00.004-05:00

I love these old factories, like the Quaker Oats Factory; they're so massive and convey a sense of strength and confidence.

More Holy Trinity Church, Hyde Park

2011-10-26T08:00:00.004-05:00

Almost exactly three years later, I returned and took some photographs of Holy Trinity Church in Hyde Park. The first time was a dramatic, sunny midday shoot, while this time the long, golden rays of light from the setting sun cast the church in a totally different way.It's a strange, but beautiful Gothic Revival church, with a profusion of rose windows on the nave, and not just on the front facade and transepts. The great thing about 19th Century revival styles is that the architects frequently did whatever they wanted, breaking rules as it suited them.Above, St. Michael slaying the dragon adorns a pinnacle of a flying buttress, while below is one of the most fascinating and unique depictions of the Holy Trinity, where God the Father replaces the Virgin Mary in a Pieta scene. The Holy Spirit looks on from above.

Salisbury Street: New Lease on Life

2011-10-25T08:00:00.004-05:00

My favorite (and many others) commercial building in North St. Louis is being renovated by the city. I am very excited that the heart of Hyde Park will see new development that is conscious of the historic context of the neighborhood.Fresh plywood indicates which buildings will be renovated.I love the original late 19th Century cast iron pillars, which will be graced by fresh paint soon.I also get a kick out of the last renovation, which attempted to cloak historic building in fake colonial revival decoration.

Ash Pits

2011-10-24T08:00:00.004-05:00

Keith Raske was kind enough to provide me with a couple of photos of mysterious cement tubs located in the St. Louis Hills neighborhood. As best as I can tell, they were ash pits, where homeowners would dump the ashes from their coal fired furnaces. I have seen a couple of these in my own neighborhood, and they were obviously once more common. It's hard to believe that is was only fifty to sixty years ago that people were still burning coal in their furnaces.

Chicago and Rock Island Railroad Bridge

2011-10-23T08:00:00.003-05:00

This is the bridge that killed St. Louis's long term hopes of competing against Chicago, built in 1856 between Davenport, Iowa and Rock Island, Illinois.

Sculpture, Cedar Rapids, Iowa

2011-10-22T08:00:00.002-05:00