Starting at Gasconade Street and heading north on California Avenue, there is a wonderful row of Second Empire buildings, with a storefront on the corner, and then two houses next door. Above, on another corner of the intersection, some competent… Continue Reading
I met new people all over North St. Louis this summer, including members of the congregation of the Original Friendship Missionary Baptist Church in the Ville neighborhood, on St. Louis Avenue. Better Family Life had organized dozens of churches to… Continue Reading
Houses that had been abandoned for years have been rehabbed and occupied on Texas Avenue in between Pestalozzi and Arsenal on the east side of the street. A trend I am not happy about is the painting of the beautiful… Continue Reading
Crossing Lynch Street heading south, the east side of Texas Avenue has some peculiar Modernist in-fill; one is still occupied, while the other is abandoned. Then there’s this giant Second Empire house, which is a common form of housing in… Continue Reading
Starting at Ohio’s intersection with Gravois and Lynch, we head south, looking at the east side of the street, where there is the famous “One Night Stand” karaoke bar. It had been closed for a little while, with the whole… Continue Reading
It’s one of the laziest statements to make, but Magnolia Avenue traveling eastbound from Tower Grove East into Fox Park really is a study in contrasts. Take the Italianate rowhouses above: they are old; probably dating to the 1870s, and… Continue Reading
If anyone asks me the neighborhood that has been hit the hardest by racism, predatory banking policies, redlining and failed government actions, it would easily be JeffVanderLou (though in time at the current rate, other neighborhoods in St. Louis and… Continue Reading
Following up on my “North up Blair” post, I took a different route to see how other buildings were faring in the late summer in the neighborhoods hugging Interstate 70. First up was Old North, where I confirmed from old… Continue Reading
The majestic Gasconade County Courthouse rises on a bluff on the west end of downtown Hermann. It seems to have been undergoing some renovations, as its newly copper domes have replaced dull-colored ones in older photographs. Apparently it claims to… Continue Reading
I first photographed Hermann, which is the county seat of Gasconade County, all the way back in November of 2007. I was surprised and impressed at many of the positive changes. I visited Hermannhof Winery, which I learned was originally… Continue Reading