Merchants Bridge, Under Reconstruction, Part Three

Without much fanfare, they have completed the third, westernmost and final truss span of the Merchants’ Bridge north of downtown. The bridge piers remain, encased and strengthened with massive amounts of reinforced concrete. The old Merchants’ Bridge, the second oldest span in St. Louis, is now a memory. I looked at the first and second…

Arsenal Street Between Ohio and South Jefferson Avenues, North Side

Why? Just why? We cross over Ohio Avenue as we continue our trek east down Arsenal Street, looking at the north side of the major east-west thoroughfare. We looked at the south side of the street back in May of 2022. I was actually pleasantly surprised with how this business cleaned up and reopened this…

Cedar Street, Part Two, Washington, Franklin County

Proceeding down towards the river, we realize that the houses above are the same ones in the photograph below, just seen from the opposite direction and over one hundred years later. The house above looks like it’s been modified slightly from 1908. But this house above and below can clearly be seen in the far…

Bellevue Brewery and Central Parkway, Cincinnati, Ohio

The former Bellevue Brewery sits high up on a hill above Central Parkway, the former Miami and Ohio Canal. Ironically, this was originally the back of the building. But of course, it might seem logical that industry would grow up along the canal, though I wonder how much utility the waterway really provided by the…

German Village, Columbus, Ohio, Part One

We now turn to Columbus, the capital of Ohio, and the German Village neighborhood south of the city’s downtown. German Village is one of those special places in America that I have a feeling most people have never heard about, but it is easily one of the most beautiful and harmonious built environments I have…

Old Louisville, Part Two

Continuing our look around the Old Louisville neighborhood of Louisville, we see an evolution of styles, but again, they are in keeping with what we would expect to see in St. Louis. In this case, we now see what would be best described as Renaissance Revival. Also, there are houses that have elements of the…

Former Blessed Sacrament, Revisited

It turns out that Most Blessed Sacrament, which I looked at back in December of 2020, was founded in 1907, and originally worship occurred in a wood frame structure with dimensions of 73 x 30 feet, that was built in six weeks at the behest of its first pastor, Father P.H. Bradley. The whole campus…

Gravois Avenue Between California and Ohio Avenues, Fox Park

On my way to photographing St. Francis de Sales in the fog, and continuing my slow documentation of Gravois Avenue, having done Tower Grove East to the west a while back, I shot some of the buildings on the north side of that main thoroughfare in Fox Park. This giant Spire, formerly Laclede Gas building…

Indiana Avenue Between Sidney and Lynch Streets, East Side

I realized I had mostly been looking at the west side of Indiana Avenue in the past, as well as further south. But the east side of Indiana Avenue just south of Sidney Street in Benton Park is actually a very interesting mix of buildings. First there is a group of Second Empire houses close…