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.
I recently discovered the Virginia Avenue business district in my exploring, anchored by the old Virginia Theater above, and the Stork Inn, one of Anheuser Busch's restaurants.
What I love about this neighborhood is how the residential and commercial properties segue seamlessly, without any evidence of massive parking lots that so often litter even the most stable neighborhoods in St. Louis.
The Stork Inn is a gem, and is the perfect focal point for the strip of businesses.
The houses above look at the Inn across the street. While more or less identical, they each have taken on a life of their own over the years.
I made it back down to Carondelet and explored some more.
This time, I went down to Broadway, which has a plethora of historic buildings, many of which date to before the Civil War. You can almost imagine the clanking of hammers at Ead's shipyards as the ironclads being built there took form.
It's cliche, but Carondelet really does feel like its own thriving small town.
I'm not sure, but the roof of the Carr School, just north of downtown, seems to have deteriorated even more severely since the last time I saw the building.
I had always heard about this theater, but had never been by. In fact, Virginia Avenue is really amazing along this stretch, featuring some amazing architecture and still prosperous businesses.
Originally built by Anheuser Busch, it was bought by Wehrenberg and operated as a theater for years. Supposedly several churches occupied the space as well, but I saw no evidence of occupation when I drove by in early February. Read about the theater here.
If you look closely, you can see the back stage rising above the rest of the building.
Looking out at the forlorn parking lot on the corner of 14th and Lucas Avenue in downtown, my thoughts began to wander to what once occupied the block bounded by Washington, 15th, Lucas and 14th. Looking at the Sanborn maps, it appears that the block once held an abundance of houses, a church and school, and perhaps dozens of businesses.
Admittedly, the living conditions might not have been the best, but I have to wonder if an auto repair shop and surface parking is the best use of the land.
Surely downtown will not be as vibrant as we wish until parking lots become less desirable for property owners than new houses and businesses. I can vouch as an employee of an institution on this block that most of the parking sits empty most of the week.
But for the time being, I'll imagine the clip-clop of horseshoes on the cobblestones and the sounds of children playing in the alleys of what was once a vibrant and bustling block.
Toby Weiss has done an excellent job of documenting quarries in the Cote Brilliante area of North St. Louis, but it turns out that such quarries were not limited to just the northern half of the city. And just as has happened up north, problems of subsidence of the fill dumped into these quarries seems to have claimed victims on the south side as well. At the intersection of Virigina and Delor, far south in Dutchtown, at least two former quarries sit abandoned and filled in with rubble.
Looking at old Sanborn maps, you can see that the Eyermann Quarry once operated in a large pit in what should have been Compton Avenue. The street still doesn't go through. According to a website I found that talks about St. Louis quarries, the Eyermann Quarry was known for high quality stone. Nothing remains of the quarry except for flat, rolling terrain. Looking at a satellite image, you can see what appear to be streets or concrete paths through the site. I suspect that in-fill was built on the site, and has since been torn down due to subsidence. Interestingly, Anheuser Busch owns the quarry's strange-shaped plot of land with the address of 5100 Virginia.
Up on the hill, along Minnesota, the old Haller Quarry shows why the upper portion of the site sits abandoned.
The apartment building below, I suspect, would give us a clue about what once sat on the site before demolition. The 1950's saw many of the old quarries closed, and Modernist apartment buildings replaced many of the holes in the grid, along with single family houses elsewhere in the city.
A quick look on the map below confirms these were quarries; in fact, it looks like there were once at least five quarries in southern Dutchtown. Is your house sitting on top of one?
The architecture of Renaissance Florence inspired architects throughout the city of St. Louis. Above is the Loggia dei Lanzi on main piazza of the city of Florence. As you can see below, this building, as well as the Ospedale degli Innocenti by Filippo Brunelleschi, inspired Soulard Market's design.
Using the repeated arched arcade, Soulard Market has much of the same appearance of many Florentine buildings inspired by the great architect.
I wish the upper floor of the market would be reopened, because as far as I know, it is sitting empty.
The wings stretching to the right and left of the front door continue the same Renaissance Revival architecture.
I really must get back to Soulard and capture more of this unique neighborhood.
The old Immaculate Conception Catholic Church, on Longfellow at Lafayette. St. Kevin's and St. Henry's were apparently rolled into the parish, before the parish was closed due to lack of attendance. It is now home to the Compton Heights Concert Band.
It is a beautiful Gothic Revival Church, and I imagine nearby industrial barons from the Compton Heights neighborhood walking over here on Sundays, before I-44 cut off this short stretch of Longfellow from the main portion south of the interstate. It is an idiosyncratic Gothic church, though. For starters, and perhaps not too strange, I am certain the church originally was planned to have a steeple or spire, but either it was destroyed or it was never built in the first place. The right side of the facade clearly shows a lack of symmetry, and the right side looks to be designed for a spire to rise out of its foundations.
A quattrefoil surmounts the pointed arch doorway, with the original name of the parish still inscribed above.
A rose window crowns not only the facade of the church, but on the transepts as well. The windows now feature protective glass to protect them.
The oddest part of this church are its relatively tiny clerestory windows, which are supposed to be anathema to the Gothic style. Of course, the church is also missing flying buttresses, that critical element which allows for the windows to grow larger than they had been during the more heavy-set Romanesque style. I wish I could speak to the architect about his unconventional expression of the Gothic style.
Hey, kids, can you guess which houses on my block are owned by out of town (and state) slumlords?
I drove around the St. Louis Place neighborhood on two Saturdays ago, and saw some signs of life among so much desolation. Hebert Street continues its decline, and a street just to the south, showed evidence of a fire from the rear.
I drove around to the front to take a picture, but there was a man sitting in a truck glaring at me as I drove by. Was he a brick thief, or merely concerned why an outsider was driving down his block?
I continued on, and found these well-preserved houses on a side street. The on one on the left, with nice Italiante detailing, might still be occupied. Will this property be considered a "legacy property" by Paul McKee?
I'm still amazed at the brazenness of the brick thieves who hit this house right on busy St. Louis Avenue. This house was beautiful, intact, and surely would have made a great home for someone. As it stands, it seems that demolition is its only future.
I assume this six family (or twelve family) building right next door will be hit soon by the the brick thieves. And surely no one will take notice, again.
I can't believe how much has changed in Old North, just in the four years I've been going up there and looking around.
Back then, I went to Crown Candy, but now I go to several other new businesses, like the Urban Studio Cafe and the Old North Market.
