There is actual life in Brooklyn, the long suffering first African-American founded community in America. This sturdy church is well maintained and occupied.
Apparently the nearby Venice School District also serves the town, and this nice Modernist school sits nearby. In the distance, the skyscrapers of St. Louis loom in the distance, like they are in another world, which in many ways, they are.
This house, perhaps built in the 1940’s, does not appear to be occupied, but I’m not sure. Sadly, the industry of Brooklyn, if one could call it that, sits on the south side of town, away from the church. Infested with organized crime, its businesses frequently go up in flames in arsons that go unsolved.
THE REALLY SAD PART IS THAT FEW AMERICANS HAVE NO CLUE AS TO THE ABANDONED INFRASTRUCTURE OF THIS COUNTRY. ST, LOUIS WAS THE MAIN FOCUS OF A TV PROGRAM ON A & E ABOUT OUR DECLINING CITIES AND URBAN BLIGHT.
MY GRANDPARENTS HAVE LIVED IN ESL SINCE THE 1940s AND THE STORIES THEY TELL CONFOUND ME WHEN I SEE WHAT’S LEFT. WHILE THE CITY CAN BE DANGEROUS, ON THE WHOLE MOST PEOPLE THERE MIND THERE OWN BUSINESS. NO ONE IS RUNNING AROUND FIRING 9MMs OR RUNNING UP TO SELL YOU DRUGS OR CARJACK YOU. BUT THE PLACE IS CREEPY WITH ROADS THAT DOUBLE BACK OR JUST END AND ALL THE BURNT OUT STRUCTURES.
I HAVE VISITED AND CAPTURED MANY OF THE OLD SITES LIKE ALCOA AND HUNTER, BUT HAVEN’T GOTTEN ARMOUR. I LIVE IN B’HAM AND I’M TRYING TO GET IN TOUCH WITH UE314 MEMBERS.
I HAVE ONE QUESTION:
DO YOU OR ANYONE YOU KNOW HAVE ANY PHOTOS OF THE INTERIOR OF THE WATER TOWERS AT THE CHAIN OF ROCKS?
Terry, I agree that East St. Louis is not as dangerous as many people make it out to be. Armour is guarded by a man who styles himself as the last employee and guard of the plant; he is very particular about visitors and usually is very hostile to anyone who comes close to his domain.
As far as the water intakes at the Chain of Rocks, I suspect no one has been in them for a very long time. I don’t even think they’re used anymore, but I could be wrong. They were originally reached via dikes that stretched from either bank. It is very treacherous now, and the only way I could see to get in would be to get a boat, which sounds very difficult.
One of our day times news stations did a little piece on the intake towers, boated out to and went inside them. Video is available online, don’t have the link at present but found it thru Google.