It was hiding in plain view. This old photograph of the French Market, which I had posted way back in October of 2020, featured a very prominent gable roof with windows that are obviously that of a church or chapel. Digging deeper, I discovered that the block of South Broadway, Hickory, 6th and LaSalle streets…
Category: Central
Posts about Central St. Louis
Third Baptist Church, Revisited
Third Baptist Church is an interesting situation, where the interior is much older than the exterior, which was renovated in 1950. The interior dates from 1885. But as can be seen in the apse, there is rich woodwork, stained dark contrasting with the stonework.
Missouri Avenue Between Albion Place and Park Avenue, Lafayette Square, Revisited
Crossing over Albion Place, we are still in the large Funkhauser Addition, at least until the last few houses before we reach Park Avenue. As can be seen above, there was nothing built yet in 1875, and the only features present was what looks to be a farmhouse and a small grove of trees and…
Missouri Avenue Between Lafayette Avenue and Albion Place, Lafayette Square, Revisited
I looked at Missouri Avenue on the west side of Lafayette Square back in September of 2019, but I felt like it was such an interesting stretch of street that I’ve split it up into two posts. Up first is a house I looked at all the way back in April of 2008.; it was…
The Mallinckrodt Residences
As the Mallinckrodt family’s fortunes grew, so did their houses. Emil’s farm house wasn’t too shabby, and seems to have survived into the Twentieth Century. A Greek Revival center hall house, it acquired a Queen Anne style front porch in the late Nineteenth Century. It was demolished at some point, I estimate, in the early…
Crunden Martin Ruins, Revisited
Hey, office and flex space for lease! I revisited Crunden Martin to check up on the state of the buildings after the disastrous Black Friday fire. Yes, in case you were wondering, that sign is new. As I had appraised on Black Friday, the building that had already suffered a fire back in 2011 is…
Some Early Historic Maps
I had a bunch of maps saved up that I had some purpose for that I forgot, so I thought I would present them here for your enjoyment. The first two are related to Mill Creek and Chouteau’s Pond, and demonstrate how important the body of water was to early St. Louis. Remember, all images…
The Old Dairy
I stumbled across some old photographs by William Swekosky of the noted ruined stone house on Missouri Avenue in Lafayette Square, which I have looked at extensively over the years, particularly in July of 2018, but I briefly glanced at it back in May of 2022 when I was examining some new in-fill. What is…
Crunden-Martin, Destroyed
Update: The ruins were demolished in the summer of 2026. “It’s Thanksgiving, so the fires will be starting now,” someone remarked on social media–I recall reading somewhere. What a far too accurate portent. I woke up on Black Friday, and sadly, they were right. Crunden Martin, that stunning abandoned warehouse/factory complex I’ve looked at around…
Norbury Wayman Map of St. Louis Additions and Subdivisions
Norbury Wayman was a historian and artist who researched and chronicled much of St. Louis and its built environment. I’m presenting here his additions and subdivisions of the city maps, which are incredibly useful for anyone looking to see when different portions of St. Louis were platted. Above is an overall map, and below are…