Thanks to a tip, I learned that Rock Alva’s last central portion (the majority of the estate had already been sold off) was recently sold and subdivided off into a small housing development. The only building to survive is the stable, where the Griesediecks used to skeet shoot. I do not know what its future…
Category: County
Posts about St. Louis County
Former Carrollton Bowling Alley
Sitting at the entrance to the now eradicated Carrollton subdivision, the former bowling alley of the same name is still open under a new name, Kingpin Lanes. It now has sand volleyball courts under a giant inflatable dome to the left of the front door. The bowling alley has been around for a half century…
Gumbo
Where there is now a Walgreen’s, a McDonald’s, a gas station and an entrance ramp onto Interstate 64/Highway 40, there was once a small town named Gumbo, which lay in the larger area known as Gumbo Flats, rechristened Chesterfield Valley nowadays. Settlement occurred out here early with the Long Family being prominent; Chesterfield Airport Road…
The End of Fontbonne University
Sadly, my prediction that Fontbonne University would not make it to 2030 proved to be correct. (I also predict that two or three other universities in the St. Louis region will not make it to that year, either.) It started out so promising, though, founded by the Sisters of St. Joseph, whose legacy still includes…
Forsyth Boulevard West of the City Limits
It dawned on me that Forsyth Boulevard west of Forest Park is the natural continuation of that parade of mansions along Lindell Boulevard, many designed by Maritz and Young, that terminates at Washington University. As was already present on Lindell, the houses are positioned laterally towards the street wall, reflecting their owners’ reliance on the…
Forsyth Boulevard from Forest Park Parkway to Big Bend Boulevard
Normally I photograph a lot of historic architecture because it is at risk of demolition due to the declining economic fortune of the neighborhood around it. But in the case of Forsyth Boulevard in the blocks just east of Clayton’s downtown, I am documenting these beauties due to the real threat of them being demolished…
Country Club Court
I stumbled across one of the most wonderful little pockets of houses in Clayton, just off Hanley Road and just south of the central business district separated by Forest Park Parkway. The eighteen houses, constructed between 1926-27 and sold between $25,000 and $30,000 were designed by architect William Remmert, owner of the Remmert Construction Company….
Moorlands / Claverach Park
I almost certainly will go back, but I made a first foray into one of the most interesting and beautiful additions to Clayton, just west of Big Bend Boulevard and Forest Ridge and Southmoor, and south of Brentmoor. Developed by the Moorlands Land Company, Moorlands Park, now known as Claverach Park, was platted in May…
Up Around Bellefontaine Road
I had some business up in North County so I snapped some hurried shots of some interesting places along Bellefontaine Road, which was the former name of North Broadway in the City as it wended its way to the fort of the same name near the confluence. Well, this first place is technically on Dunn…
St. Mary’s Hospital, Winter 2024
Wow, just look at what St. Mary’s Hospital used to look like almost one hundred years ago when they had moved from their Near South Side location. The wing on the left was demolished back in 2010, which seems like a million years ago. There is a little bit of a wing, perhaps built in…