Three Year Anniversary of Saint Louis Patina: Favorite Places in St. Louis

All this week, Saint Louis Patina is looking back over the last three years, revisiting the highlights of dozens of expeditions and thousands of photographs.

Here are my top ten favorite places in the St. Louis area; these are places I have returned to time and time again for years, and captured the best photographs:

10. Lafayette Square, Near South Side

9. Benton Park, South St. Louis

8. Dutchtown, South St. Louis

7. Bellefontaine Cemetery

6. Old North St. Louis

5. Benton Park West, South St. Louis

4. Hyde Park, North St. Louis

3. St. Louis Place, North St. Louis

2. St. Augustine, St. Louis Place

1. Armour Meatpacking Plant, National Stockyards

Three Year Anniversary of Saint Louis Patina: Most Commented Upon Posts

All this week, Saint Louis Patina is looking back over the last three years, revisiting the highlights of dozens of expeditions and thousands of photographs.

My website is not exactly controversial very often, but every once and a while I set someone off for some reason or another. Here are the posts with the most (and continued interest) comments, along with some posts with the most strident and bitchy comments.

Dennis is Not a Rent-a-Cop!

My post on being busted in Portland and Westmoreland Places garnered significant reader response. Apparently "Dennis" is a good guy, despite being an %&@!$ to me.

That's Right It's an Oratory, You Gotta a Problem with Dat?

My lament that St. Francis de Sales was demoted from a parish to an oratory hit a raw nerve with at least one reader. Message received, buddy.

Sorry Lady, Crestwood Mall is Still a Ghost Town

I wrote a very old post about the death of Crestwood Mall, before all the mom and pop art galleries moved in, and boy did I hear about it from one woman. The comment was actually so profanity laced that I didn't publish it.

Fond Memories of Dutchtown

Originally this post was to allow my friends to see the house pictured because they were thinking about buying it. They didn't, but I still got some great memories from people who lived in the neighborhood.

The Lemps Continue to Fascinate

I received many great comments about people who lived in or near the Lemp Estate in southwestern Kirkwood.

Castlewood's History is Still Alive

One of my favorite places in the world is Castlewood, and I have many fond memories of hiking its trails. It seems many other people share my love of the area.

You've Never Heard of the Vandeventer Corridor?

Every once and a while I get some anonymous know-it-all who has to correct my posts.

April Fools!

This post speaks for itself.

Three Year Anniversary of Saint Louis Patina: Two Seminal Posts

All this week, Saint Louis Patina is looking back over the last three years, revisiting the highlights of dozens of expeditions and thousands of photographs.

These two early posts are of the greatest significant in the history of this website; one represents my first attempt at an historic architecture post I actually did for an old website that no longer exists, and the second is the post that covers the events that led me to finally meet other historic preservationists in St. Louis:

(1) Downtown St. Louis: Where No St. Louisan Has Gone Before

Read the original post here.

I was back in town for Christmas break of 2005, I think, and I had been reading some of the local blogs about downtown and North St. Louis. I got my street atlas out and started driving, not really knowing where I was going. I ate downtown, and went up to Crown Candy for the first time. There wasn't anybody there except a couple of cops eating lunch. I drove up Blair to the water towers, and then got back on the interstate. My appetite had been whetted, and I kept thinking about the Northside even when I returned to Washington, DC. I was slowly starting to realize that I wasn't really happy in DC anymore, and that maybe St. Louis wouldn't be such a bad place to live after all.

(2) My Encounter With Brick Thieves in North St. Louis

Read the original post here.

I had been working on Saint Louis Patina for several months at this point in September of 2007, and I was intrigued by St. Louis Place, one of the most battered neighborhoods in St. Louis. I decided I was going to go on my merry way and look for myself. Ten minutes later, I found myself flying down the streets of North St. Louis, desperately trying to escape from a group of brick thieves who were none too happy about me photographing on the same street as them. I e-mailed Michael Allen at Ecology of Absence about my experience (even though I had never met him before, I figured he would be interested in the brick thief story), and he invited me to a happy hour that was coming up soon at Shady Jacks. That night I met the first handful of what would become many people who share the same zeal and interest in St. Louis architecture. Almost three years later, I still talk with many of the same people. Sadly, brick theft continues, as I have been documenting, and only the future can say what will become of many of the buildings in the cross-hairs of brick thieves.

Three Year Anniversary of Saint Louis Patina: Celebrating All Week Long

Three years ago this Saturday, May 15, 2007, I embarked on a project I had been planning for over a year--before I had even moved back to St. Louis from Washington, DC. Back in 2006, I already had the name picked out, "Saint Louis Patina." I wondered if most people even knew what "patina" meant, but I liked the ring of it, so I went with it. Inspired by looking for years at the work of people who I now have the pleasure of calling friends, I knew I had something to contribute. All this week, I will look at the most popular posts, other posts that were meaningful to me, and some of my favorite posts and photographs.

Glennon Seminary, Affton

I had always seen this tower from Watson or Gravois, and last Sunday; I finally found my way there. Reminds me of the city hall of Los Angeles in some aspects.

Last Remnants of a Neighborhood, North Riverfront

I don't know much about this neighborhood, other than when it was constructed it wasn't bound by the strict brick only regulations of the City, for some reason.Regardless, people who have followed this neighborhood for years say it is rapidly disappearing.Sandwiched between the interstate and the riverfront, it isn't perhaps the most desirable neighborhood.It was at one point however, and it's sad to see that the desirability of the area was stripped away by external forces.

Crown Square Almost Reborn, Old North St. Louis

In just months, the street will return, with the pedestrian mall already swept away.
In the future, I will do some before and after comparisons of the mall before the restoration began.

College Hill, Part 2

College Hill really is on a hill, and these views show how high it is. This mansion above is surrounded by nothing but sky, quickly clearing after the storm.Looking downward, you can see how this street was truncated by the interstate. Below is this tidy row of houses, like you might see in Hyde Park to the south.This burnout is interesting, as it doesn't follow the normal flat, box like design of most rowhouses in St. Louis. Perhaps it was an older house in the neighborhood.This house sits surrounded by overgrown foliage. Elsewhere in America, this exact house could fetch $400K, but here, it rots in obscurity.

College Hill, Part 1

College Hill is north of the Grand Water Tower, and south of O'Fallon Park. It is an area shrouded in mystery, and cloaked in a severe amount of desolation. I don't think I saw maybe six people as we drove through this neighborhood two weeks ago.The area really is hilly, hence the name College Hill; there is a deep valley in between the Grand Blvd ridge and the high lands around the Park. The area is largely abandoned down in between the two hills.Unique houses abound, including this wonderful buff brick house with a turret......and this incongruous brown McMansion built only a few years ago.See the area from the air here.

Amazing Adaptive Reuse in Downtown West

Paradowski Creative has created one of the most incredible and humane renovations of an old power plant in western Downtown. An emphasis on light reaching every employee and an eye for detail makes this one of the most exciting places to work that I've ever seen.

The Story Behind the House, Pella, Iowa

I stumbled across this news story about my favorite house in southern Iowa. Read the original post here.

Stating the Obvious

Has the average driver in America become so self-absorbed and lazy that this sign above the red left hand turn arrow is actually needed?

Blocks, Calvary Cemetery

I took this picture through a car window covered with raindrops, but focused it so much the foreground was focused out of existence. Taken waiting out the rain at the gate of Calvary.

Spolia #6

They almost seem to be crying out in pain, having lost the building they were attached to behind them.

Water Treatment Plant, Peoria, Illinois

I don't know much about this building, other than it seems to still be in use as a water treatment facility.It's a great example of Romanesque Revival architecture.

St. Albans McMansion Revival

Just when I think they can't get any more creative with a 4 million dollar price tag, they prove me wrong.

Barnyard Animals

One hundred years after their construction, the barns on my family's farm still are used for their original function.