Barney Building

Believe it or not, but people live in the still habitable part of this building. The North Riverfront is a strange place.

Federal Cold Storage Company

Update: First, a fire broke out in the interior in May of 2024. Then, in October of 2024, another much more severe fire inside required the demolition of the building due to the cork insulation inside the walls. Demolition began less than a week after the last fire was extinguished. Supposedly the largest cold storage…

Big Mound Memorial, Revisited

Well, it didn’t take long, and it’s hard to see in this picture, but someone has already attempted to steal the bronze plaque off of the Big Mound Memorial, bending its right side in the process. The monument, in its old location on the site of Mound Market, was famous for having had its dedicatory…

Laclede Power Company, Later Lewis Street Power Station, Revisited

Update: See the old power plant at night in the summer of 2019 and again in October of 2022. The irony of the 1901 Laclede Power Company and its famous sign that fronts the river is that it was bought by Union Electric Power and Light in 1907. It apparently had five smokestacks 120 feet tall…

St. Louis Refrigeration and Cold Storage Power Plant

The St. Louis Refrigeration and Cold Storage Company has lost most of its warehouses to demolition (this one, with the same crenelations, still stands to the south), but its power plant is still left. Its once 160 foot smokestack was torn down at some point, and now the building houses light industry. It’s a beautiful…

North Riverfront, Revisited Again

The North Riverfront remains a fascinating, historic place. But I often find myself stymied by closed streets (though not as bad as on the South Riverfront), and superblocks that formed over the years. Also, sometimes street names change, as well. But I was lucky to discover that there was once a giant stockyards on the…