Castle Point is one of those places in suburbia that sort of defies description. I visited the former Thomas Elementary School all the way back in April of 2012 and learned from readers that there is a portion of the vast neighborhood that is known as Hathaway Manor, which is distinct from the larger Castle Point area.
Castle Point is famous for all of its streets being named after feudal titles such as king, viscount, earl, etc. The vast majority of houses are small Cape Cod style houses, with presumably a living room, a kitchen with maybe an eat-in dining room, two bedrooms and a bathroom. There are no garages, unless homeowners built one later.
Simply put, the abandonment is shocking. Judging from on-line narratives and comments, the slide began in the late 1980s or early 1990s, and by the 2000s, things really began to get bad.
Castle Point is bordered by Lewis and Clark Boulevard on the east, Chambers Road on the south, West Florissant Avenue on the west and State of Missouri-owned land and other subdivisions on the north (I-270 is a firm boundary). I drove by the beleaguered Top of the Tower on my way to Castle Point but honestly didn’t feel the need to stop and photograph it again.
I would estimate abandonment at around easily 50% of the houses, and that is not even counting all of the vacant lots where homes once stood.
So of course, this raises the question (no, not begs the question–learn how to use that phrase correctly, everyone), what the heck happened here?
Poverty, drugs, racism, disinvestment–all the usual suspects, I’m sure…
But something wild happens when you cross over an invisible line, which is west of Baron and north of King drives.
The houses switch to ranch houses, and all of the sudden the streets are immaculate, not a single abandoned building in sight, and you would think you were in a science fiction movie. You are actually in Hathaway Manor, that northwest section of Castle Point that is immune to blight (with the exception of the former Thomas Elementary, which is now abandoned).
Are ranch houses immune to some sort of societal disease that Cape Cod houses are not?
It often seems in my travels, that there is a doomsday age for buildings in America; when your house reaches a certain age, which I estimate to be about fifty years old, a day of reckoning arrives. Does your neighborhood see renovation (quartz countertops get installed), or does everyone move out, and the out-of-town investors sweep in, turning your community into a dump?
Are the cape cods 800 sq ft, on slabs?
Are the ranch houses 1200ish with basements?
That’s your answer if so. No storage, no ability to expand the living space to a rec room or anything below ground. Not many people are looking for that, I presume, and a lot of these houses are probably at the end of service life of pretty major components (windows, doors, plumbing if in the slab especially, etc), so they’re tiny houses that need a ton of maintenance right out the gate.
I think you’re on to something, Ben. I think some of these Cape Cods in the North County area clock in at 600 sq ft. I addressed this issue in my coverage of Hanley Hills:
https://stlouispatina.com/hanley-hills/
Are these house still competitive for homeowners when you can buy 3,000 sq ft for $150K in Lincoln County? I would argue, no.
The other thing is location. 800sq ft and no basement is fine if you’re in walking distance of everything like in a city. But it’s a huge sacrifice in a place like castle point where you’re basically isolated without a car.
There are too many of these really small 1950’s era mostly slab houses in North County. Castle Point, Spanish Lake east of the of the railroad tracks and west of Larimore, Glasgow Village, Calverton Park, etc
They are too small, in areas with poor schools and high crime with few choices for good paying jobs, shopping and dining, and have no historical significance, so there is no real reason for people with the means to sink money into them to keep them viable
I would agree that the competitiveness of these houses due to their size will be a problem today and in the future. And school district quality, regardless if a homeowner has or plans on having children, also affects the neighborhood, as well.
I used to go there for after work parties occasionally back in the early ‘80’s. I’m white and the woman that held those get-togethers was black. I knew a white family that lived there then but I think it was largely black even then. People claim that it was “white flight” that brought about the downfall of North City and North County. No doubt white families moved from those areas, but then again so have black families. I think any time crime reaches the point of shootouts in broad daylight with seemingly no solution or end in sight, ANYONE black or white with the means to do so will (and have) gotten out.