Completed in early 1927, the building at 3025-27 Union Boulevard featured storefronts on the first floor and apartments above. Around the corner on Greer was a complementary apartment building which sadly have been demolished. The apartments were four and five rooms each. The stores were advertised as excellent for “live wire.” Does anyone know what…
Tag: Abandoned Buildings
Ferdinand Herold House Not Doing Well
I was alerted by a fellow lover of St. Louis history and architecture that the Ferdinand Herold Mansion on South Jefferson has been boarded up and abandoned after a failed attempt at rehabbing the stately house. It is currently on the market but no one has bought it yet. Unfortunately, the house has now been…
An Abandoned Factory and a Prison, Fort Madison, Iowa
On the way out of town we saw two landmarks. The first was the old Sheaffer Pen Plant, built in three stages: an office in 1931, a pen manufacturing plant in 1952 and a shipping depot in 1976. It closed in 2008 and the pens are now made in China after being sold to Bic….
Vermont Avenue Between Loughborough Avenue and Mott Street, Carondelet
North of Loughborough, we head back into a more “normal” Carondelet streetscape, with a mix of wood frame and brick housing stock. Eclectic and a mix of houses from across a good fifty to seventy years of construction, there are buildings that run the range from working class to upper class.
Vermont Avenue Between Robert Avenue and Blow Street, Carondelet
Please join me on July 24 at 6:30 at the Central Library in downtown St. Louis for a lecture about my new book. Please register here. Passing north of Robert Avenue, we spot some ancient gems, such as the one on the right above, which is sadly abandoned, and the one below, with a little…
Quinette Road
We’re going to dive into some pretty deep esoterica with our examination of Quinette Road, which was the original name for Big Bend Road between its modern day intersection with Marshall Road and Meramec Station Road. If you look at the old 1862 Hutawa Map, you can see the path of Quinette Road along the…
After the Tornado: The Greater Ville, Revisited
The Greater Ville was hit hard, so badly, and much worse than I conveyed three weeks ago. The northern part of the neighborhood was largely intact, with a little bit of abandonment, and now almost every house has been damaged, and many completely destroyed. Below is Marcus Street, on the west side of Western Lutheran…
After the Tornado: The Ville, Revisited
I traveled around The Ville some more and it has been devastated. Yes, there was already a fair amount of abandonment and vacant lots, but what was intact and in good condition was damaged badly. Sumner High School suffered extensive loss of its roof, as well as some windows, from what I understand. It was…
After the Tornado: Fountain Park
Update: The ruins of the church were later demolished. Next we head into Fountain Park, where there has probably been the most media attention. I hesitated in photographing the Centennial Christian Church due to the tragic death of Patricia Penelton, one of five people who perished during the tornado. The church is planning on demolishing…
After the Tornado: Academy Neighborhood
When I crossed Union Boulevard to look at the Academy neighborhood, which was struck with the full force of the tornado, things got deeply depressing. The neighborhood is bounded by Union on the west, Delmar on the south, MLK on the north and Kingshighway on the east. First of all, I had to detour because…