Clinton Peabody, Yesteryears, Part Two

William Swekosky, Gerhard Timmerman Residence. 1018 Dillon Street. President of St. Louis Machine Manufacturing, Missouri History Museum, N03843

Continuing our tour of the Near South Side streetscapes demolished in the 1940s for the Clinton Peabody Housing Project, we move over to Dillon Street.

Unidentified Residence at 1117 St. Ange Avenue. Photograph by St. Louis Star-Times staff photographer, 1940 Missouri History Museum Photograph and Print Collection. Residences n34675

William Swekosky seems to have been drawn to St. Ange Avenue, with its strong mix of different architectural styles predating the Civil War.

William Swekosky, Dillon, Patrick Residence. 1400 Saint Ange, Missouri History Museum, N03111

This was actually the suburbs before the Civil War.

William Swekosky, Hoyt, Cyrus G. Residence. 1109 Saint Ange, 1910, Missouri History Museum, N03308
William Swekosky, Ohnsong, Albert Residence. 1121 Saint Ange, Missouri History Museum, N03569

From the looks of it, many of the houses had already been vacated or gutted, even their windows removed before he had a chance to photograph them.

William Swekosky, Park and St. Ange, Henry Berning Residence, Missouri History Museum, N02945
William Swekosky, Tiffany Row, Park and St. Ange, 1959, Missouri History Museum, N04456
William Swekosky, Unidentified Residence. Eighth Street north of Hickory. 1940-1959, Missouri History Museum, N04305

I think one of the weaknesses of downtown St. Louis is that there are no real neighborhoods within a safe and desirable walking distance. Many American cities have thriving neighborhoods where people can live close to their work in the central business districts, but St. Louis does not. It could have.

William Swekosky, Walker, George Residence. 1432-1436 Saint Ange, Missouri History Museum, N03893

One Comment Add yours

  1. Mark Preston says:

    As a child I lived in Davis Place, until going off to college. I remember snowy Friday nights walking over the the Shaw Park Ice Skating Rink. If I had stayed in Clayton, I would have walked to and from work daily.

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