Moving east on Washington Place we past by the first houses and then we are greeted with a surprise. We are presented with a manse much larger than other houses on the block, and I wonder if this subdivision was originally intended for more expansive residences. It was owned by Allen Harwood Collins and his…
Washington Place Between Union Boulevard and Lake Avenue
The days of spraying oil on bricks or dirt are thankfully over, but the beautiful houses that line Washington Place are still here just east of Union Boulevard (you can see the gatehouse of Washington Terrace off in the distance). The style of these houses are hard to give a real name for. Perhaps we…
Westminster Place Between Union Boulevard and Lake Avenue
West of Lake Avenue, which bifurcates the area, there are some handsome houses that I might describe as Colonial Revival almost of maybe Georgian, which is a break from the more cube-shaped houses that dominate Westminster Place. But there are plenty of what I would call semi-Renaissance Revival houses such as the one below. It’s…
Westminster Place Between Lake Avenue and Kingshighway
Now that we’ve looked at some of North St. Louis, let’s head south of Delmar and check up on how things are doing on the long blocks north of Portland Place and Westmoreland Place, which was the Forest Park Addition. These subdivisions were laid out in the 1890s, a couple of years after the aforementioned…
Hamilton Avenue Between Romaine Place and MLK Dr Drive, Hamilton Heights
Heading north from Romaine Place, I traveled north on Hamilton Avenue towards Dr. Martin Luther King Dr. I could have sworn I’ve been up this section of Hamilton Avenue, but I guess not. This stately building was the Franke Motor Car Company, constructed for $25,000 in 1925 and designed by Otto J. Kriegg, whose offices…
Demolition, Wellston
They seem to be demolishing one of the landmark buildings in the Wellston Loop, on the County side of the strip. The sign high up on the tower says Plumbing Supply Wholesale Distributors, but I don’t think that’s the original tenant. Anyone remember what this building was?
Arlington Avenue Between Ashland and Natural Bridge Avenues, Wells-Goodfellow
I visited this block almost exactly two years ago in July of 2023, fascinated by the interesting mix of wood frame housing. It was totally abandoned back then, and it’s obviously stayed that way. At least one house has been demolished in those two years. Despite being right behind the Schnuck’s on Natural Bridge Avenue,…
5600 Block of Labadie, Wells-Goodfellow, Summer of 2026
I specifically set out to try and find another block to explore other than the 5600 block of Labadie Avenue, but then I went and drove down it anyway. The first part to the west I first explored back in March of 2017. It’s in rough shape. Most of the buildings, some of which were…
Hodiamont Avenue, Wells-Goodfellow, Revisited
Posts at this website are one of two things: exploring new places, or revisiting somewhere to see how it has changed for better or worse. I decided to explore Hodiamont Avenue in Wells-Goodfellow, which I had first examined closely back in March of 2017. Foliage is doing well, as can be seen above. I’ve always…
School Supply Warehouse
I made an interesting discovery near the Rock Church just off North Grand Boulevard regarding this building. Due to the size of the smokestack, I assumed this was a factory, but since at 1909, this building was a school supply warehouse for Saint Louis Public Schools. The fourth floor was labeled “bindery,” so I wonder…