I had some business up in North County so I snapped some hurried shots of some interesting places along Bellefontaine Road, which was the former name of North Broadway in the City as it wended its way to the fort of the same name near the confluence. Well, this first place is technically on Dunn…
Tag: Churches
Kinloch Park, Berkeley
I recently stumbled upon the plat map of Kinloch Park, which as its name suggests, has to do with the street grid of Kinloch, the historically middle class African American suburb in North County. But it is not so simple. Kinloch Park formed only the northwest portion of Kinloch, and that part has actually been…
Roof Collapse, St. Augustine’s
Update: After a third and catastrophic fire, the church was demolished except for the belltower. Sometimes there are things in life that are terrible, and no matter what you do, you can’t change them, and you just have to take it. I was driving north on the newly smooth Parnell, heading to St. Augustine’s to…
Shelbina, February 2024
It seems like I visit Shelbina every eight years. The first time, in 2008, I photographed a beautiful building that was sadly destroyed by fire. In 2016, I went deeper, seeing more of the gorgeous houses back on some of the side streets. Our first stop revealed the Vesper House was resplendent as ever; I…
St. Joseph’s, Manchester
“Kick out the jams!“ Thanks to the eagle eyes of readers, I discovered that St. Joseph’s Roman Catholic Church once had an earlier location in Manchester. With the help of the Archdiocese, I was able to obtain photographs of that church, which was up Creve Coeur Avenue, which surprisingly a very historic street dating back…
St. Augustine’s in the Fog After the Latest Fire
On the afternoon of January 22, another fire broke out in the former St. Augustine’s, but this time it was apparently in the other end of the church, towards the front doors. The damage from the previous fire in the sacristy and apse was severe. It’s hard to tell how much damage occurred because the…
Manchester United Methodist Church
Just up from Manchester Road from the Lyceum on Woods Mill Road is Manchester Methodist, which has a history dating back to 1826, when the founder of Ballwin, John Ball, donated the land for the first wood frame church, which would be built in 1837. This Neoclassical church would be built in 1856. Before the…
Renaissance Architecture, Part Two
Meanwhile, in Urbino, the Della Rovere family was laying the groundwork for the High Renaissance when their son Giuliano became Pope Julius II, bringing along the architect Donato Bramante and painter Raphael with him to Rome. Their ducal palace in Urbino, which I’ve looked at before, was a center of Humanist learning, focusing on ancient…
Renaissance Architecture, Part One
It’s come to my attention that there is not a strong grasp of what Renaissance architecture really is, judging by all the flippant labeling of many buildings around America as “Renaissance Revival.” So what exactly is Renaissance architecture in the context of Italian history (note there is also French, German, etc. variants, as well)? Let’s…
Former St. Boniface, Winter 2024
The former St. Boniface, and now the former Ivory Theatre, has seen some theft of the metal on the upper portions of the two towers in the last couple of years. But I’m told that there are new owners who are taking care of it now, and hopefully they’ll have it back open soon. For…