Enclaves of St. Louis #1: A Corner of Wells-Goodfellow

I’ve become intrigued recently with little enclaves of houses left behind when industry, highways or other constructions have cut off or isolated what was originally larger neighborhoods. The first one I’m looking at is an area of around a dozen houses reached by what is technically Hamilton Avenue south of Natural Bridge Avenue.

Versteeg’s Addition, 1937, St. Louis County Open Government

It was part of Versteeg’s Addition, laid out in the early Twentieth Century, most likely for worker housing to support nearby factories; you can see both the demolished half to the west above and the surviving eastern half above in the aerial photo from 1937.

Originally twice as large and with far more houses, there are still some people left living in this little working class neighborhood.

But the first half was demolished and absorbed by industry, and I wonder if the rest of this little enclave will share the same fate in the coming decade.

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