Old Kroger, Ohio Avenue Just South of Cherokee Street

This is the former home of Kroger's, robbed at gunpoint in 1959 by none other than James Earl Ray.

3719 Texas Flounder

Built in 1884, one year before its brick neighbor, this wood frame half flounder seems relegated to the scrap heap after tomorrow. It's a shame, because it could at the bare minimum provide a nice porch to its neighbor.

Luminary Kick Starter Campaign

The Luminary is planning to move into a former five and dime store on Cherokee Street, and we need to help them. Please consider donating to their Kick Starter Campaign. Currently, most of the arts institutions are clustered in the central corridor of St. Louis, and very few are east of Grand Blvd. Let's work to bring the arts to new populations, ones that have typically been under-served when it comes to seeing national and international artists.

Aisle 1 Gallery, Cherokee Street

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.

Cherokee Brewery

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.

Mike Stasny

Jefferson Avenue, South St. Louis

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

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

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

Gothic Revival Church, Benton Park West

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

Bomb Door

Plane over Cherokee Street

Cherokee Street Details

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

Benton Park West, #4

These beautiful houses face the back of St. Alexus Hospital in Benton Park West. Perhaps a hospital administrator lived in the house at one time?The house above looks like a house that might be in the West End, or Cabanne; it shows that this neighborhood was still thriving even as the city pushed to the west.I love this Art Deco style building on the corner; I don't know anything about it, but it's a nice treat and a break from the rhythm of red brick so common in the neighborhood.

Angelo Olegna

Unofficially, but now officially, the Mayor of Cherokee Street.

Cherokee Street

The diversity of new and old businesses along Cherokee Street is really getting to be exciting. Come to City Affair this Thursday and meet some of the new business owners along the street.

Cherokee Street Alley

Benton Park West, Residential Streets

The housing stock surrounding Cherokee Street is amazing, a symphony in brick. Will the redevelopment of the commercial strip spread to the side streets eventually?