Back in December of 2019, I had taken stock of the last two towers left after the demolition of two of the Lansdowne Tower pubic housing project. One of the two remaining towers had already been boarded up, but the fourth, the Rukovina Tower, was still occupied. Now both of them are boarded up to…
Category: Metro East
Across the river in Illinois
Mary Brown Center, Lincoln Park, East St. Louis, Revisited
I looked at the Mary Brown Center back in November of 2024, but this time we examined the building more closely. We noted cool little details such as downspouts that emptied into planters, which sadly were weed-choked, but I could imagine if planted with flowers must have looked great. Also, we examined the roof of…
National Memorial of Military Ascent
Our destination just south of Grafton was the brand new National Memorial of Military Ascent, which commemorates the Army Rangers who climbed up the 100 foot cliff at Pointe du Hoc on D-Day, June 6, 1944. Grafton is the perfect location for the memorial with its cliffs left from quarrying that began in the Nineteenth…
Grafton, Jersey County, Illinois
Founded in 1832, Grafton is the oldest town in Jersey County. There were once large numbers of limestone quarries in the area very early on in the town’s history, and it reflects in the building materials of Grafton. Above is the Slaten LaMarsh House, dating from 1840 and the home of the first mayor of…
Elsah, Revisited
It has been almost twelve years since the last time I visited Elsah, so we took a quick look around. It is a sleepy little hamlet nowadays. I am always intrigued at the large number of stone houses, though there certainly are plenty of brick buildings, as well.
End of Spring 2026 Odds and Ends
It’s that time of year, so it’s time for odds and ends! Above is a spandrel from a storefront in downtown Belleville, looking suspiciously like something Louis Sullivan would design. Below is just another house we found while driving around town. Cleveland High School is looking really, really bad compared to earlier visits; I first…
St. Theresa of the Child Christ Roman Catholic Church, Belleville
We spotted this Mid-Century Modern church on our way out of Belleville, and stopped to take a closer look. Unfortunately, it was closed and locked, so we could not explore the interior. While the parish dates to 1926, this current building dates to 1967 and you can see photos of the interior at this link….
West C Street To North 10th Street Via Voss Place, Belleville
We now turn onto West C Street in Belleville, and discover a building whose originally purpose remains unknown to me. Was it a Turnverein or some other German social organization? I don’t know, but perhaps a reader does. We next come up to a short private street, Voss Place, which betrays its obvious Teutonic origins…
West D Street From North 11th Street to West C Street Via North 8th Street, Belleville
Continuing along in our walk through northwest Belleville near the old Stag Brewery, we see our first of what I would consider a true Cape Cod, the iconic building style that has its roots going back centuries in America and Europe. It is sort of the standard “house” in Western Civilization. But we see more…
North 11th Street Between West C and West D Streets, Belleville
The street grid shifts by forty-five degrees and continues on as we look a Belleville. There is this large store front that has been filled in with just a door that looks like it’s straight off the shelf from a big box hardware store. There are more of the three bay wide side gable workers’…