It’s long been accepted that Adler and Sullivan’s original design of the round windows on the second floor with bearcat terracotta sculptures and a Damascus arch entryway (seen here) for the 1892 Union Trust Building were removed at some point in the early Twentieth Century. However, we now know it was incorrect to believe that…
Category: Downtown
Posts about downtown St. Louis
TUMS Factory
I realized I had never photographed the TUMS factory in downtown St. Louis. It is noteworthy for many different reasons. Rob Power of Built St. Louis calls it the first major industrial building in the Modernist style in St. Louis, and I also feel like it has the stylistic underpinnings of the Art-Deco and Streamline…
Former Pet Milk Building
The former Pet, Inc. headquarters building at 400 South Fourth Street was originally built in 1969. It was designed by the supposedly noted architect A.L. Aydelott. When completed, it was 300,000 square feet and cost $7,500,000 to construct. It has now been converted into apartments and rebranded .400, a baseball reference owing to its proximity…
Demolition Continuing Stouffer’s Riverfront Hotel
The demolition of the old Stouffer’s Riverfront Hotel is going along nicely, and this will be my last post about it, as the above photograph could be at twenty stories, ten stories, whatever. It looks the same regardless. According to my calculations, this is now the record holder for the tallest building in St. Louis…
Stouffer’s Hotel, Demolition Continues
Demolition has proceeded on the lower of the two cylindrical towers of the former Stouffer’s Riverfront Inn, or whatever name you best know it as, in downtown St. Louis. Demolition began with the low-slung wing that connected the two towers, and some preliminary demolition has begun on the lower floors of the original tower.
The First SLU Medical School
Saint Louis University’s medical college moved from its main campus at Washington and 9th, which had been founded in 1836, to a new location at Myrtle (present-day Clark) and 7th. In 1854-55, SLU and the medical college separated, and the latter became the St. Louis Medical College. What is interesting are these two prints, above…
Saint Louis University, Downtown
I think many people might know that Saint Louis University was once located downtown, but may not realize that the buildings were an elegant ensemble of Neo-Classical edifices. Originally beginning as the St. Louis Academy in 1818, it was then the St. Louis College in 1829 now under the Jesuit umbrella, and finally University in…
Some Unique Vanished Churches
I think one of the more interesting aspects of the built environment in St. Louis is the number of churches we have lost not due to neglect and disinvestment but rather due to rapid growth. I thought it would be interesting to take a look at some of the earliest churches in St. Louis that…
End of Autumn 2025 Odds and Ends
Here are some leftover photos from the last six months. Above is a Falstaff sign in Benton Park. Above, looking down a street in what I think is Kingsway East towards the Chase Park Plaza, but I can’t be sure. Above is the Missouri Athletic Club, which I snapped while sitting at the light at…
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…