Responding to a reader critique, I headed back up to Baden recently, and in particular looked at the downtown area along North Broadway. The house above with its attached lot had not changed much.
Many of the buildings north of there were still boarded up.
This church was still looking good.
The building below was actually featured in my very first post about Baden all the way back in May of 2010 (third photo); it looks better secured now than back then. Note the spire of Holy Cross in the background.
Moving north, things look much better and most of the buildings are occupied with businesses.
Some are renovated but unoccupied.
The amazing bank building is still looking for a new occupant.
I turned onto Halls Ferry at that point and headed up to Castle Point.
I lived in Baden on Newby St. until we moved to Granite City, Illinois , in 1959. I was in the 6th grade. I went to Baden School as did my mother and all of her brothers and sisters. My mother’s 8th grade English teacher when I started school. I don’t remember her name, but she looked older than dirt. My grandparents as well as many other family members also lived in the old neighborhood. Although we were not practicing Catholics, I was baptized in Mt. Carmel Church. I have a photograph of me standing on the steps outside the church along with my cousin Mary dressed in formal wear. She was the flower girl, and I was ring bearer. We look like we were in kindergarten or first grade. I’m 78-years old and live in Florida , but I have many warm memories of Baden.