Over the next couple of weeks, I’m going to be looking at the east-west streets in Fox Park and Compton Hill in between California and South Jefferson Avenues. We’ll start in the south with Armand Place and work our way north, ending with Hickory Avenue in the north. This first block is the Sarpy’s Subdivision…
Selma Hall
Selma Hall, or Kennett’s Castle, was built according to designs by George I. Barnett in 1854 along the bluffs south of St. Louis in Jefferson County. I rarely only show historic photographs, but the house is so far back in a huge estate and is never open to the public that it is impossible to…
Anheuser Estate, Kimmswick
The Anheuser family had a country estate on the banks of the Mississippi just south of Kimmswick that is now a park. The house was originally built in 1867 but the Anheusers bought it in 1916. I suspect the family could have easily taken the train directly to their estate on the tracks, which may…
Windsor Harbor Bridge, Kimmswick
On the south side of Kimmswick is the Windsor Harbor Bridge, which is now completely closed to all traffic, after once being open to pedestrians. Originally placed in Carondelet up in St. Louis from 1874 to 1928, it was moved here in 1930. There is a modern road bridge to the west, made of reinforced…
Kimmswick, Revisited
Founded in 1859 by German Theodore Kimm, we thought that Kimmswick was worth a second look recently since we were in the area after having looked at it back in August of 2020. I had forgotten how many log cabins there were in the town. And judging from the National Register nomination, which does not…
Buyer Beware: Painted Brick
I know from talking to many people that there is great frustration in the rash of out of town flippers, particularly from California, who have come in, flipped houses, gutting perfectly intact interiors with original woodwork and replaced it with cheap materials, and then for the final insult, slathered the beautiful red brick exterior with…
Eckert’s
You might be surprised that in forty years since first arriving in St. Louis, I had never been to Eckert’s, the famous orchard which interestingly lies partially within the city limits of Belleville. Not surprisingly, we were immediately interested in the large farm house in the Italianate style, which sits high up on a hill…
Former Temple Israel, Tornado Damaged
I’m concerned about the long term condition of the former Temple Israel at the northwest corner of Holy Corners, Kingshighway and Washington Boulevard. Its roof was almost completely ripped off by the tornado of May 16, 2025, and I haven’t seen any attempts to cover the hole since then. There was an article in the…
Byrne’s Mill, Jefferson County
Well, we discovered there’s not much left of Byrne’s Mill (not to be confused with Byrnesville, which wan named after a totally unrelated man) except a stone pier, but there is a nice write up at the city’s website about the historic site.
Neosho Street Between Brannon Avenue and Kingshighway, Part Two
As is typical of all the east-west streets west of Kingshigway, as Neosho gets closer to the major north-south artery, the houses get larger and two story. But they are still single family. This is an interesting development, because as one travels north, multi-family housing begins to predominate as the housing stock gets closer to…