For some reason, I found a bunch of photographs by William Swekosky of houses in the Marine Villa area that have all been annihilated, mostly due to industrial spread and interstate construction; I don’t think younger people fully grasp just how altered this portion of the city is. I’ll let these house “portraits” stand void…
Former Most Sacred Heart Roman Catholic Church, Post Tornado
As I mentioned offhand on Sunday, October 25, I had passed by the former Most Holy Rosary Roman Catholic Church when I looked at San Francisco Avenue in Penrose. I decided to go back and take a closer look at the damage. To put it bluntly, it is not good. A warehouse that had been…
San Francisco Avenue Between North Euclid Avenue to Kingshighway Boulevard, Penrose
Heading north up North Euclid Avenue past these four-families, we make it back to San Francisco Avenue, nearing the end of our journey. We turn left at this house, which is interesting in that it has a poured concrete foundation but has weird proportions. Back on San Francisco Avenue, we see a whole row of…
Sacramento Avenue Between Marcus and North Euclid Avenues, Penrose
At Marcus Street, we next head west on Sacramento, with this house and its companions dating from 1906. We cross over Shreve and see these houses, which are a decade later. And then we see one of the coolest prefab metal cornices in the city on the house below! What I love about St. Louis…
Margaretta Avenue Between Cora and Marcus Avenues, Penrose
Backtracking to a street that makes it past Bradley Park, I settled on Margaretta Avenue to continue on my journey west through Penrose. There’s those three houses above (and another further down) with the half lunettes in the cornices; the construction dates are listed as 1911, and while they and the house below have a…
San Francisco Avenue Between North Taylor Avenue and Bradley Park, Penrose
I don’t know why but I decided to continue on San Francisco Avenue, ignoring the “Street Not Thru” sign with a cavalier attitude. There was a wide variety of houses from many different time periods, which I found interesting considering much of my journey had large blocks of houses built in tracts. But there was…
San Francisco Avenue Between Clarence and North Taylor Avenues, Penrose
Heading west, we pass by the former Most Holy Rosary Roman Catholic Church, which was severely damaged by the tornado of May 16, 2025. I think it might be abandoned, but I am not sure. On the south side of the street, there is this lone house. San Francisco Avenue doglegs to the left, or…
San Francisco Avenue Between Red Bud and Clarence Avenues, Penrose
The next block is still the 4200 block but we see something surprising. The houses are several decades older, dating from 1908. And we see the appearance of some interesting houses, with dramatic and dominant shed roofs over their porches, built in 1923. We cross over Turner Avenue and enter the 4200 block of West…
San Francisco Avenue Between Fair and Red Bud Avenues, Penrose
I thought I would choose a single street in the Penrose neighborhood, San Francisco Avenue, and take a look at its entire stretch, starting at the east end at Fair Avenue by Fairground Park and head west. I think this neighborhood is just really beautiful, and not as old as one might think. These two-families…
Northeast Madison Avenue Between Van Buren and Sloan Streets, Northeast Peoria
Northwest of the old LeTourneau works, we pick up Northeast Madison Street again, no doubt looking at the former workers’ homes of that once massive factory that helped win World War II. Houses are built close together, and there is a rhythm to their placement and massing. There are very few abandoned houses in this…