Well, I heard in the news that the old Carr Elementary School, which has been abandoned since in 1983, is being demolished. By then, the neighborhood it served had largely been annihilated by urban renewal. I detailed the historically rich story of the Carr Square article in two parts, here and here, for St. Louis…
Demolition, The Chesterfield
Unlike most of the area south of Delmar Boulevard which is being repaired following the May 16, 2026 tornado, there was one building, the Chesterfield, that was not so lucky. Hit by the twister and then damaged further by a fire on January 24, 2026, the building was condemned for demolition. I caught a photo…
Washington Terrace Gates, Summer 2026
I’ve looked at the Washington Terrace gates before, first in January of 2012 and then again in November of 2014. I would probably describe the architecture as Norman Romanesque Revival, it seems like it was shrouded in ivy for much of its early existence. Readers have told me that college students or young men lived…
More of New Harmony, Indiana
We saw some other interesting buildings in New Harmony, including the Working Man’s Institute, founded by William Maclure in 1838. The current building is from 1894 and is still open to the public. Besides serving as a library, it also contains a museum of artifacts from the earliest period of New Harmony, as well as…
Roofless Church, New Harmony, Indiana
I wouldn’t say I’m a huge fan of Phillip Johnson. There’s that whole Nazi problem, and the fact that a lot of his work just isn’t that good. The General American Life Insurance Building (now Spire) in downtown St. Louis is pretty cool, though. But we discovered the Roofless Church at New Harmony, and it’s…
New Harmony, Indiana
New Harmony, Indiana, much like the Icarians in St. Louis and Nauvoo, was part of the wave of idealistic communities founded in the United States in the Nineteenth Century. Founded by George Rapp in 1814, the settlement was developed by Lutherans from Wurttemberg in what is now Germany. They didn’t last long and moved to…
Chief O’Brien Grave, Calvary Cemetery
We were wandering around Calvary Cemetery when we found this unique monument to Chief of Police Martin O’Brien. In 1919, he was wounded while chasing two “highwaymen” who had just robbed a jewelry store. He sounds like a much more hands on manager than many leaders nowadays.
Essen Log Cabin, Reborn
There’s some good news to report for a change, since it seems like it’s been a lot of bad news lately. A log cabin, that was literally stolen and thankfully recovered, has been rebuilt in the new Village Green Park in Wildwood a decade after its theft. The Essen Family were longtime settlers in West…
Osceola Street Between South Spring Street and 37th Street
I then cruised down Osceola Street, where I saw something surprising: an abandoned house. It is a rarity in what is other a very healthy neighborhood. It’s also a neat little house. Much of the blocks on Osceola are the sides of houses since they primarily face the north-south street, but we have some nice…
Taft Avenue Between South 37th and 38th Streets
Turning onto Taft Avenue from Grace Avenue, we see more of those more modern housing configurations. The houses above are breaking away from the red brick two bay wide facades with side front doors, as you can see above. And of course, now there are Gingerbread houses popping up. But of course, remember that these…