Former Biddle Street Market

Designed by Albert Osburg, the City of St. Louis staff architect and opening in 1932, the Biddle Street Market was once the hub of a now vanished neighborhood. It replaced an earlier market of the same name, seen below. As can be seen below, originally the sides were open and not bricked in on the…

Yet Another Fire on the Near North Riverfront

I’ve officially lost count of the number of times this remaining warehouse from the St. Louis Refrigeration and Cold Storage Company complex has caught fire. I think it’s at three. Here’s from the last time I documented a fire from January of 2017. As you can see, some nice new plywood, that has probably already…

Former Sacred Heart Roman Catholic Church

There’s something deeply depressing about the vacant lot at University and and North 25th streets in the St. Louis Place neighborhood. There once stood one of the most unique churches in the Archdiocese, and it burned and was eventually demolished. Atypical for a Catholic church, it was an auditorium style sanctuary, and probably featured one…

St. John’s Evangelical and Reformed Church

St. John’s is perhaps unique among the churches we looked at in that it has a choir loft above the high altar, alluding to the importance of music in the congregation. The organ is also above the choir, as well. I particularly liked the packed house in the photograph below.

Scullin Elementary and Five Other Schools Slated for Demolition

Built in 1908, the John Scullin Elementary School has long languished in abandonment after closing years ago. It has now been targeted by Saint Louis Public Schools, along with five others, for demolition. The five other schools slated for demolition have all been examined in previous posts, and you can see them here: 1) Euclid…

Sara Lou’s, February 2026

Sara Lou’s is not doing well. We’re still holding out hope that an investor can come in and save the building, but that needs to happen soon. No, the current state of the building is not due to the tornado on May 16, 2026.

The Former St. Mark’s After the Fire

It’s bad. Fire struck the former St. Mark’s Roman Catholic Church at the northwest corner of Page Boulevard and Academy Avenue in the evening of January 23, just as the city was facing a major snow storm. Looking back at previous visits I had made, the first time in July of 2018, then in November…

Rex-All Warehouse Glow Up

As I was driving down Kingshighway from Bellefontaine Cemetery to the former St. Mark’s, a blinding white object to the right caught my attention. The old Rex-All Warehouse, which I’ve looked at before back in June of 2011 and November of 2018 (fifth through seventh photos) has received a “glow up” as the kids say…

Montgomery Street Fire, Old North

Only hours after I had posted on January 22 the good news that these houses were being rehabbed, a fire broke out and severely damaged this row of houses. I do not know what the future holds for these houses. Sometimes it feels like North St. Louis just cannot catch a break.