I want you to understand that with the exception of the two houses you see below, every other single house on Cabanne Avenue in the fire insurance map above is gone.
Sorry to go on a tirade, but this is what happens when you let government go crazy and implement its vainglorious ideas on entire neighborhoods. St. Louis’s leaders loved to do that for far too much of the Twentieth Century.
The north side saw in-fill built, examples of which you can see below. The south side is still nothing but vacant lots. Perhaps that is what always annoys me the most about St. Louis urban renewal–they never finish! We looked at Cabanne Avenue west of Ruth E. Porter Mall earlier in December.
I also took a look at the Winston Churhill, albeit from a different angle.
I’ve looked at it before from one of the more interesting blocks in the city, as in this post from April of 2019.
I sometimes wonder what it would be like if the street grid was reopened, but I understand how people would like to keep it the way considering how badly driving has deteriorated.
Cabanne was from the start an upscale street of larger than average single family homes – note the numerous D designations which meant dwelling ( F = flat ) . Many were frame or lower floors of masonry and uppers, shingle style. Farther west the private part still has a number of these shingle style mansions, well cared for . The great loss in the area was the Potter House – a masterpiece in , I believe the 1950s ?
Yes, you can watch as the neighborhood changes as you move north or south.
I kept thinking how we must be circling each other in the West End and I have proof of this because you managed to capture my car in these shots. I think this must have been one of the cold days when I braved walking anyway.