I visited JeffVanderLou in the early morning light, and revisited many of the houses I’ve photographed over the years. The buildings above, I last saw back in December of 2022 (last photo). Much of the area is now abandoned, sadly. We’ll see if the NGA has any positive effect on the area, which hasn’t happened…
Rapidly Disappearing Houses, The Ville
I’ve been looking at these shotguns in the 4300 block of Kennerly since March of 2014, again in January of 2017 and yet again in December of 2024. The number of houses along this stretch has dwindled, and I wonder about how this historic building type is vanishing. Sure, they’re not complex or built of…
Western Lutheran Cemetery, Halloween
I figured since it was Halloween, I should scare myself somehow. Visiting the forlorn Western Lutheran Cemetery did the trick. Spurred by SpeedHumpMe’s recent visit on Instagram, I thought it was time to do the same thing. Travesty would be the most accurate word to describe the current conditions. What is happening is a crime….
The Lost Houses of Marine Villa
For some reason, I found a bunch of photographs by William Swekosky of houses in the Marine Villa area that have all been annihilated, mostly due to industrial spread and interstate construction; I don’t think younger people fully grasp just how altered this portion of the city is. I’ll let these house “portraits” stand void…
Former Most Holy Rosary Roman Catholic Church, Post Tornado
As I mentioned offhand on Sunday, October 25, I had passed by the former Most Holy Rosary Roman Catholic Church when I looked at San Francisco Avenue in Penrose. I decided to go back and take a closer look at the damage. To put it bluntly, it is not good. A warehouse that had been…
San Francisco Avenue Between North Euclid Avenue to Kingshighway Boulevard, Penrose
Heading north up North Euclid Avenue past these four-families, we make it back to San Francisco Avenue, nearing the end of our journey. We turn left at this house, which is interesting in that it has a poured concrete foundation but has weird proportions. Back on San Francisco Avenue, we see a whole row of…
Sacramento Avenue Between Marcus and North Euclid Avenues, Penrose
At Marcus Street, we next head west on Sacramento, with this house and its companions dating from 1906. We cross over Shreve and see these houses, which are a decade later. And then we see one of the coolest prefab metal cornices in the city on the house below! What I love about St. Louis…
Margaretta Avenue Between Cora and Marcus Avenues, Penrose
Backtracking to a street that makes it past Bradley Park, I settled on Margaretta Avenue to continue on my journey west through Penrose. There’s those three houses above (and another further down) with the half lunettes in the cornices; the construction dates are listed as 1911, and while they and the house below have a…
San Francisco Avenue Between North Taylor Avenue and Bradley Park, Penrose
I don’t know why but I decided to continue on San Francisco Avenue, ignoring the “Street Not Thru” sign with a cavalier attitude. There was a wide variety of houses from many different time periods, which I found interesting considering much of my journey had large blocks of houses built in tracts. But there was…
San Francisco Avenue Between Clarence and North Taylor Avenues, Penrose
Heading west, we pass by the former Most Holy Rosary Roman Catholic Church, which was severely damaged by the tornado of May 16, 2025. I think it might be abandoned, but I am not sure. On the south side of the street, there is this lone house. San Francisco Avenue doglegs to the left, or…