The Sheldon Memorial was built in 1912 for the Ethical Society according to designs of the architect Louis Clemens Spiering. Spiering is actually a very interesting figure, having participated in the design of the 1904 World’s Fair, as well as being a descendant of the famous German Marxist Karl Ludwig Bernays. St. Louis, as pretty…
Category: Central
Posts about Central St. Louis
Ruins in the Undergrowth
“Hey, I wonder how that one house is doing,” I thought to myself two Saturdays ago. I had checked in on a house I first found back in June of 2022 in April of 2024 and had discovered it had collapsed badly. At first, when I drove up the building, I thought it was completely…
More Tiffany Redevelopment
I took a look at the in-fill development was going in the Tiffany neighborhood east of South Grand Boulevard after having visited back in February of 2021 and November of 2022. East of Theresa Avenue on Vista Avenue, there is substantial construction completed, but there are still some empty lots. But the tan brick houses…
Rutger Street, West of South Eleventh Street
I’ve looked at the greater Frenchtown area before, particularly the part known as LaSalle Park, a neighborhood left behind after the streets around it were annihilated in urban renewal. We’re going to look at one last remnant, the south side of Rutger Street in between South 11th and Tucker Boulevard today, seen above highlighted in…
After the Tornado: DeBaliviere Place
Following the path of the tornado east/northeast, we reach the DeBaliviere Place neighborhood, bounded by Forest Park on the south, DeBaliviere Avenue on the west, Delmar Boulevard on the north and Union Boulevard on the east (where we’ve already seen damage). Damage from the tornado is similar to that in Skinker-DeBalivere, with a large numbers…
After the Tornado: Skinker-DeBaliviere
The Skinker-DeBaliviere neighborhood, which is bounded by Forest Park on the south, the city limits on the west, Delmar Boulevard on the north and DeBaliviere Avenue on the east, also saw damage from the tornado. The tornado and high winds primarily struck the southeast corner of the neighborhood, and the wreckage ranged from the collapse…
After the Tornado: Wydown Boulevard, Clayton
I had just looked at this stretch of Wydown Boulevard back in January of 2024 in Clayton in between Big Bend and Skinker boulevards, and it has now been transformed due to the tornado of May 16. The trees and windows of the houses along here have been savaged. There are also signs of damage…
After the Tornado: Union Boulevard
Heading north on Union Boulevard, we see the damage to Waterman Place; normally the house above and below are largely shielded from view but with the trees destroyed, they are exposed. Many of the windows on the Chesterfield, below, have been blown out; I have been told that throughout the area affected by the tornado,…
After the Tornado: Forest Park and Nearby
The western portion of Forest Park was hit hard, and while the major institutions were not damaged, thousands of trees were lost. At first glance, many trees looked like they had escaped damage from the tornado, but upon closer inspection, it becomes obvious that many trees lost limbs and foliage. North along Lindell Boulevard, where…
After the Tornado: Photographing Destruction
I grappled with whether I should take or post any photographs of the tornado damage that struck St. Louis on May 16, 2025, which a reader noted will now be indelibly linked with the anniversary of the founding of this website on the same day. Is it ethical to photograph destruction, and in particular people’s…