Jumping over Park Avenue, where the historic fabric of the city has been completely erased, we arrive at a gold mine of houses from the 1870s and 80s. And Compton and Dry’s Pictorial St. Louis from 1876 gives us some interesting views of what was there 150 years ago.

The first half of the block west of South Jefferson was the Staniford Addition, platted in 1863, which is fascinating since it would have lain just outside of the guns of the forts protecting St. Louis during the Civil War.

If you look back at the Compton and Dry, you can see that the western half of the block is more developed; that is the Lamont Addition, platted in 1858, so there has been more time for houses to be built, but they sadly have been demolished in the redevelopment of the mid to late Twentieth Century.

But the gems left in the Staniford Addition are fascinating.

Some could date, stylistically at least, from the 1870s, judging from their appearance and being in the Italianate style. They could be some of the oldest surviving Italianate working class houses in the city.

There is even at least one half flounder, seen below.

Caroline Street takes its name from the former naming convention of this area, which were women’s names. Rutger to the north was Sarah originally.

We’ll go there next.