I think this is an incomplete church, where the congregation never completed the upper stories. But research does not reveal any explanation about what this was. Records say that the F. W. Caspar & Co. was at this intersection in 1906. Which corner? I suspect this might have been a Christian Scientist church, judging from the buff brick, as is common in a whole string of similar churches around the city built in the early Twentieth Century (examples here and here). The city database lists 1950, which is clearly the date of a renovation or alteration, not construction.
Is this located on Carter avenue and North Grand? I recognize that building . I did some research a few years ago on the Christian Science churches in St. Louis and I located all 8 which are still standing. Nothing was ever mentioned of this location. I had assumed it was a police station but couldn’t find any records of that either. I’m very curious as to what it was as well
Yes, it’s at Carter and Obear just a block from Grand.
Searching that address, 3625 Carter, turns up something called the “Unity Society of Applied Christianity,” inhabiting the space in the mid 1940s, or something to that effect. Historic Aerials website shows some shadows cast on the rooftop in the 1958 and 1971 aerials. Maybe it did have an upper level? Any idea where to get neighborhood photos that might lend some insight?