Indiana Avenue Between Lynch and Pestalozzi, West Side

Turning around at Pestalozzi and heading north, we see that originally the west side of Indiana Avenue was fully built up like the east side, if not as densely. It’s also interesting to see that already in 1876, towards the north end of the block, a substantial portion of a hill had to be cut…

Indiana Avenue Between Lynch and Pestalozzi, East Side

A reader recommended I look at the 2800 block of Indiana Avenue in Benton Park, which is in between Pestalozzi Avenue and Lynch Street. I’ve looked at the block of Indiana just to the north back in December of 2022, as well as a section to the south back in June of 2015. I’ve also…

Completion at South Compton and Arsenal?

I guess they’re done repairing the corner of the building that was hit back in July of 2021? It survived the initial impact, as I showed in August of the same year, and then languished for a long time before reconstruction began in earnest earlier this year. I like how they imitated the crappy mortar…

Reinke Barn, Bluebird Park

Tucked in a valley in Bluebird Park in Ellisville is the Reinke Barn, moved from its original location west of Clarkson Road on Manchester Road. Originally built in 1905 for Henry Reinke, laborers came from the communities of Sherman and Glencoe to help build the barn. It could originally hold two horses, six cattle and…

Innsbrook

We visited Innsbrook last weekend and saw some of the lakes. It has become an incredibly expensive place to buy a house! But originally it was relatively inexpensive it you got in back in the 1970s. Located out in Warren County, just to the south of what was then the relatively new I-70, Innsbrook, anglicized…

Abandoned McDonald’s, Weldon Spring

Let me ask you something. When was the last time you saw an abandoned McDonald’s? I learned from an industry insider that McDonald’s corporate policy is to demolish a closed store as soon as possible, in order to not damage the brand name. But in a twist of fate, due to this McDonald’s being attached…

Emmanuel United Church of Christ

The landscape around Emmanuel United Church of Christ has changed dramatically around the church since it was found in 1866 and when the current building was constructed in 1874. Of course this was originally an German Evengelisch congregation before that denomination joined together with other Protestant churches in the mid-Twentieth Century. And major roads have…

Suspicious Fire at Jamison Memorial Church

Something suspicious is going on in St. Louis, with back to back fires on Friday and Saturday nights over the Memorial Day weekend. The first casualty was the Jamison Memorial Church on Washington Boulevard at North Leffingwell. One of my sources had alerted me to its abandonment several years ago. I last looked at the…

Merchant Street, Ste. Genevieve

Let’s finish up our tour of Ste. Genevieve with a final walk up Merchant Street to our starting point of the area around the church. Perhaps what is best illustrated in this row of buildings is that time moved on, and while yes, the town is famous for its French roots, Ste. Genevieve slowly became…

More French American Houses, Ste. Genevieve

Heading up Merchant Street, we first hit the Felix Vallé House, which is state historic site. He lived in one half and operated a store in the other half. Oftentimes referred to the Fedderal Style, which I more commonly heard used when I lived on the East Coast, the 1818 house is really an expression…