Elm Avenue, Maplewood

Walking down Elm Avenue, we are in the Maplelawn Addition of Maplewood, where the houses are noticeably smaller, and further away from the former train station. They are also built in tracts of similar designs. There are also many four-square houses, which are common in Maplewood. Below is looking down Walter Avenue, which is part…

Maple Avenue, Maplewood

We then turn onto Maple Avenue, still part of the original Maplewood Subdivision, and see more suburban style Nineteenth Century houses. But then as we approach Sutton Boulevard, higher density housing appears. This is the amazing, Colonial Revival(?) Colonial House apartment building. That’s some nice Mid-Century Modern type font. A more traditional early Twentieth Century…

Vine Avenue, Maplewood

Heading down Marshall Avenue south of Manchester Road past some churches we’ve looked at before, we reach Vine Avenue, a part of the Maplewood Subdivision. It’s only a few blocks away from the old Maplewood train station on the Union Pacific Railroad, and surely would have provided an easy commute to downtown St. Louis. There…

Crossroads Presbyterian Fellowship, Maplewood

Originally built as Maplewood Christian Church, which broke ground for its new sanctuary on April 21, 1957 to replace an earlier building destroyed by fire, today houses Crossroads Presbyterian Church. It is located on Oakview Terrace just north of Manchester Road in Maplewood. The church and wings originally cost $188,430. Kenneth W. Wischmeyer was the…

Lohmeyer Avenue and Oakview Terrace, Maplewood

Heading up Sutton Boulevard around the giant grocery store parking lot, we turn right onto Lohmeyer Avenue, part of the Lohmeyer Heights Addition. I am curious about this house, as it looks like it is older than the rest of the homes in the addition. Was it the Lohmeyer house? I’m curious if anyone knows….

Sutton Avenue, Maplewood

Starting at Maple Avenue, we head north up Sutton Avenue, starting at the old streetcar turnaround which is now a park. There’s this cool building right at the corner. I think many people might know that the Suttons’ farm was right at the intersection of Manchester Road and Sutton, and you can see their property…

Woodside, Maplewood

I realized last weekend that I never created a Maplewood tag, so as we look at the streetcar suburb in the coming days, that oversight has been corrected. Starting out, we’ll look at Woodside, built in 1849 by the Rannell Family, making it the oldest house in the city. The farm was subdivided into various…

The End of the Former Orthwein Estate

The “old estate” I was referring to back in September of 2018 was the Orthwein property in Huntleigh, and since then the property was sold off and subdivided. Large McMansions have gone up on the western end of the property. It was by far the largest tract of undeveloped land in St. Louis County outside…

Des Peres Presbyterian Church, Frontenac

Constructed in 1834, the old stone Des Peres Presbyterian Church is rapidly approaching the bicentennial mark out in Frontenac off Geyer Road. Despite the roof collapsing in 1874 and a car crashing into it a few years ago, the venerable church has remained a beacon in the community. At one point it was threatened with…

After the Tornado: Wydown Boulevard, Clayton

I had just looked at this stretch of Wydown Boulevard back in January of 2024 in Clayton in between Big Bend and Skinker boulevards, and it has now been transformed due to the tornado of May 16. The trees and windows of the houses along here have been savaged. There are also signs of damage…