Abandoned Factory, Walnut Park #2

What was once probably a machine room for the Barry-Wehmiller Machinery Co. sits open to the elements, hosting everything from the remnants of the resale business to the remainder of a game of bowling.

Abandoned Factory, Walnut Park #1

Situated on a quiet backstreet near West Florissant Avenue, the Barry-Wehmiller Machinery Co. sits in a state of increasing ruin.

Later taken over in the 1990's by a wholesale industrial product resale concern, it now sits abandoned, and filled with "stuff."

See an article here about the interior of the factory.

Owned by the City's Land Reutilization Authority, it most likely is polluted and hazardous for use. One can only imagine in 1912, when the factory opened, the sounds of boots on the streets as workers walked down the street from their homes in Walnut Park.

The Horseshoe, Completely Gone

I had the opportunity to get a ride up to the infamous Horseshoe, a section of one way street that loops around a desolate corner of Wells-Goodfellow.

I asked one of my students, a St. Louis police officer, about the area, and he informed me that he actually grew up on the Horseshoe, and its terrible, violent reputation was well deserved.

Sadly, what a developer had thought would be a perfect neighborhood where children could play in the streets without fear of vehicular traffic became a recipe for another kind of traffic. Since the street was one way, the police had to enter at the top of the Horseshoe, providing plenty of time for drug dealers on the lower half of the loop to be warned of their approach by their confederates.

The official explanation for the Horseshoe's demolition was that it was in a flood plain and the land was needed for MSD's use as a retention pond.

Maybe so, but I can't help but think it worked out well that Wells-Goodfellow was finally rid of this street.

It's so sad to see what was clearly a beautiful quiet oasis in the city to come to this. Every house is gone now.
Watch a sensationalized show about the area.

Abandoned Delta Wing Gas Station, South Kansas City, Missouri

We think this gas station was still occupied but turned into a mechanic's shop.

Northwest Plaza Exterior

When will these walls coming crashing down, the victim of demolition?

Will there be any memory of what was here fifty years from now?

How could such a thriving place decline so rapidly? Was its hold on the retail market so tenuous?

St. Louis Centre, Eviscerated

Alerted by posts at Vanishing St. Louis and the Preservation Research Office, I decided to use the new St. Louis Centre Memorial Parking Garage last Friday. That was a big mistake.

I had already seen the new exterior, but I wanted the opportunity to see the new parking garage built in the floors of the old mall. I must say, it is the most open, light-filled parking garage I have ever parked my car in, but when I tried to exit by a staircase, I was greeted by signs saying that the exit was for emergencies only. I had to go back up the stairs, checked to verify that there was in fact no sign saying that I couldn't use that staircase, and eventually just took an elevator down to 7th Street. What a bizarre place.

The Sun Sets on Crestwood Mall

I stopped by the Crestwood Sears last Thursday, looking for some good going-out-of-business-sale deals. I found the store just about completely stripped of all of its merchandise. I spent a lot of time at Crestwood Mall in the early 1990's, and it honestly pains me to see it close for good. Examining the Sears merchandise, I saw no problems in quality, nor in price. It just seems like shopping habits of St. Louis had passed Crestwood Mall by. I found myself coming to the Sears closing sale several times over the last two months; while I never shopped at the store when I had hung out at the mall, I felt a sense of sad duty to come and visit my old friend on its deathbed. I knew I could do nothing to save it, but I felt like I had to come by to say goodbye. The most depressing aspect was watching the employees drag themselves through their shifts, knowing that they would soon be out of a job, and perhaps for a long time. It's just sad to see this.

Northwest Plaza Famous Barr

Besides the Fairview Heights and South County stores, the Northwest Plaza Famous Barr is the third of the remaining signature domed departments stores.

Much ado has been made of the enclosure of the original outdoor mall, but it is interesting to see that the anchors at the mall changed very little on the exterior.

I'm fascinated by the concrete forms on the side of the store. Was it always painted white, and there was bare concrete originally?

Sadly, very few pictures seem to exist of the mall in its heyday, which is a shame, because I have fond memories of walking around in its courtyards.

Desolation and Southern St. Louis Place

I recently was passing through the area of the worst demolition and desolation in St. Louis, where I had been almost four years before. Nothing has changed.

To many St. Louis urbanists' horror, The Atlantic Cities discovered this area of urban prairie and publicized it nationally.

In reality, it was a botched redevelopment back in the Schoemehl administration that caused this area to be so heavily decimated. Not that it makes it any better than slow, arduous decay.

See it from the air here; 23rd Street is the major street going through the area.

18th and Lake, East St. Louis

What happened to this neighborhood!? It looks like the houses were hit by tank shells, and the apartment buildings look like they were the scene of room-to-room urban warfare.

I stumbled across this cluster of houses, scattered with older houses but also relatively recent apartment buildings, and wondered, "At what point does it get to this?"

There is still a fair amount of people living around the neighborhood, between the burned out houses and forested lots. Because much of East St. Louis was built of wood, most of it has disappeared, leaving no vacant lots but often times dense copses of trees.

All of it only a five minute drive from the Arch.

Wells-Goodfellow #2

I visited the Wells-Goodfellow neighborhood several years ago, focusing on St. Louis Avenue. I returned and while I tried to retrace my steps, I saw many new things.

I know that for many people, the neighborhood represents everything that is wrong with St. Louis, and dismissively refer to it as the "ghetto," but I want to be more idealistic.

Yes, it's disturbing to see just how badly this portion of the city has fallen, and much of the area looks semi-rural due to abandonment, which is what the neighborhood was for much of its history.

What remains is just as beautiful of any area of the city west of Kingshighway, but just a little rough around the edges.

I hope to get back soon and explore this varied and interesting area more.