A lot has been happening on State Street since the last time I posted any photographs of the downtown area of Granite City. Galen Gandolfi, who had opened the first art gallery on Cherokee Street, Fort Gondo, bought a series… Continue Reading
I looked around the residential areas north of Niedringhaus Avenue in Granite City back in early April. The town’s heart is still the steel mill, which lies on the southeastern part of town, but the houses on this side of… Continue Reading
I’m always intrigued at how downtowns adapted in the 1950s and 60s to the rise of Modernist strip malls and shopping centers in the suburbs. One of the most common tactics, done in downtown St. Louis, as well as downtowns… Continue Reading
State Street, what appears to have been the second of two major commercial streets along with Niedringhaus Avenue, is basically 100% vacant. There are some stores converted to apartments. But what is truly interesting about walking down the street is… Continue Reading
Update: See some of the older buildings in downtown nearby that were adapted to the Modernist era. Surrounded by abandoned buildings and parking lots, the Granite City Steel Building was cutting edge when it opened in 1958 to the designs… Continue Reading
Update: the building above was demolished in 2008, replaced with a movie theater.