Backs, Row of Houses, Samuel Shepard Drive
Just look at how beautiful these backyards are (and could be), shaded by this large tree. This is living close to your neighbors, requiring to actually get to know them.
Italianate
Front, Row of Houses, Samuel Shepard Drive
I’m constantly drawn back to this row of houses, owned by the State of Missouri. Elegant, neighborly, and still full of potential since the State has stabilized them, they need to be sold to the right developer. This is a… Continue Reading
SaLees Kennard House, Midtown
I wrote about this desolate block of Samuel Shepard Drive last month, discovering that a daughter of the founder of the Veiled Prophet probably lived here. It is marked for demolition by the State of Missouri, which owns the properties… Continue Reading
St. Louis Place, Late August 2016
It’s hard to tell what the bozos are doing up in the area marked for eminent domain. Here are s I think both of these houses will be demolished soon. North of St. Louis Avenue, there are still some very… Continue Reading
Scott Joplin House, Revisited
In the first year of this website, I visited the Scott Joplin House. I hadn’t been back on foot until last month; I drove through back in late July. Why is that? Scott Joplin is a fascinating character, and incredibly… Continue Reading
The Stories To Be Discovered by Finding a Stone Wall
As I discovered over in Compton Heights earlier this summer, an old stone retaining wall can foster a fascinating story. Take this one, on the 2900 block of Locust. As can be seen in the Sanborn maps below, it was… Continue Reading
Western JeffVanderLou
The west side of Grand, along Vandeventer’s side streets, are a wealth of beautiful houses. But they’re abandoned, trashed, and left open to the elements. Rain gutters are stolen, and the walls begin to spall off, and pretty soon, they… Continue Reading
Decimated JeffVanderLou
JeffVanderLou is easily one of the most devastated and forgotten neighborhoods in the city. Straddling Grand Boulevard, it is not in the news anymore, as there are few people left. This poor church, below, was ravaged by brick thieves years… Continue Reading
Eastern Midtown, Revisited
The first year this website existed, I visited the Scott Joplin House, a museum dedicated to one of the most important music innovators in American history. Not much has changed around there in nine years. Likewise, theses stunning houses, just… Continue Reading
North Grand Boulevard
North Grand Boulevard’s speeds are too fast to encourage business and pedestrian traffic, though there are a fair number of people on foot dodging cars on the sad blocks north of Grand Center. Mother’s Fish is still in business after… Continue Reading