Originally known as the Manufacturers’ Bank and Trust Company, this financial institution changed its name to the American Bank of St. Louis, before being merged with Mercantile Bank, It’s a classic Beaux-Arts bank building, though it’s curious in its relatively… Continue Reading
The railroad tracks that snake around the South Riverfront are still used, but they seem more quiet than they used to be over a century ago. I was down this way back in 2017. The views of downtown are vast… Continue Reading
I sometimes find it hard to believe there was once life on the riverfront. It’s just a giant empty expanse of concrete, partially buried train tracks and vacant lots awaiting “redevelopment” that’s probably never coming.
The house which sat on top of Sugar Load Mound has been demolished by the Osage Nation. The lower platform of the mound to the north still has one house left.
The South Riverfront, cut off by cliffs and I-55, is not as immediately accessible as the North Riverfront. But it still holds its curiosities, like this elevator, below. These cliffs looks natural, as they seem to undulate, as if water… Continue Reading
Update: I revisited the area again in the summer of 2019. The near south riverfront, just below the Arch grounds on the Mississippi, is still a fascinating place. This giant crane, for example, is a mystery to me; what was… Continue Reading
There is a large portion of the city cut off by the interstates. Up north, we see mostly devastation, as people fled living next to an interstate on the west and industry on the east. Down south, it’s not so… Continue Reading
Coming through the ice house on the Lemp Brewery’s property, a rail line came down Potomac, and curved northward to hook up to the Iron Mountain Railroad. While the middle of the curving path is now gone due to the… Continue Reading
Located down an isolated road that looks like it goes nowhere are the buildings of what was once a Merck pharmaceuticals factory, and an adjacent factory that may have been owned by Merck or at least operated in tandem to… Continue Reading
I was showing someone the municipal incinerator down on Gasconade Street. It’s an impressive structure, and from I understand, it still burns our garbage. It’s a shame it doesn’t capture the electrical potential of that heat like Baltimore’s incinerator does.… Continue Reading