Oops, someone didn’t fill in the old Union Quarry well enough and the houses have all settled! And now they’re being torn down one at a time. Essex Court, as it was called, was a common occurrence after the quarries were closed after World War II. Unfortunately, they’re now collapsing.
Here you can see it on the Sanborns. In an extremely rare instance, there is a mistake on this map: Marcus and Shreve are labeled backwards. Since the entire subdivision appears in Google Street View as of November 2015, the demolitions must be recent. Looks like it was just a stone quarry, judging from this map.
There is also an old quarry at St. Louis avenue and Kingshighway that was filled in and “Brady Bunch” style houses were built that are now settling.
Yes, indeed!
http://stlouispatina.com/norwood-square-wells-goodfellow/
What is the relationship between filling in a quarry and settling houses?
They never did it right! The quarries were usually filled in with rubbish or dirt, and it was never compacted correctly. Fast forward 50 years, and the weight of the houses causes the ground to sink unevenly. You unfortunately can see it all over the city.