Lindell Boulevard Between Vandeventer and North Boyle Avenues

Heading west of Vandeventer, this stretch of Lindell Boulevard is perhaps the most devastated of the entire street in the Central West End. There is hardly anything left from the Nineteenth Century left on the north side. Even the AAA was once threatened with demolition for a drug store several years.

W.C. Persons, Columbia Club, 3917 Lindell, April 22, 1924, Missouri History Museum, N10705

Perhaps the most notable building that was demolished was the stunning Columbia Club building, located on the site of the AAA. It survived into the age of the automobile, but fell soon after.

Arthur Proetz, Lindell Boulevard, Looking East towards Vandeventer Avenue, November 29, 1953, Missouri History Museum, N38952

The south side is a patchwork of buildings built in the early Twentieth Century that addressed Lindell’s new role as a commercial corridor.

But they are interspersed with parking lots and curb cuts for driveways.

Some houses do survive, as can be seen below.

The Boehmer House, below, stands alone, surrounded by newer construction.

Larger apartment buildings sprang up like this one below, but there is something odd about them since compatriots didn’t join them.

The Lindell Marketplace across the street dominates the north side of Lindell through here, which while providing an important grocery store for nearby North Side neighborhoods, is so anti-urban that it destroys the city nearby.

That elimination of the urban environment began long before the construction of Lindell Marketplace, though, as we can see in this photograph.

Arthur Proetz, Lindell Boulevard, Looking East at Sarah Street, November 29, 1953, Missouri History Museum, N38935

Crossing Sarah, we see one of the first HOK office buildings, which was recently renovated.

Colonial Revival buildings were also a step along the way to Lindell becoming a commercial corridor. They are now looking out of date and obsolete.

Large mansions in leafy setting were their previous neighbors.

George A. Manill Residence, 4146 Lindell, c. 1926, Missouri History Museum, P0245-S03-00001-5a

Another apartment building, which was never joined by similar neighbors, follows.

Back to the north side of the street, original houses survive, one converted to a restaurant.

On the south side, these apartment buildings show what could be on this important artery.

One Comment Add yours

  1. ME says:

    It looks like the Columbia Club had a west wing in the 1924 pic that was removed for a parking lot by time of the 1953 pic. The 1953 pic also shows a small AAA structure in front of the larger Columbia Club bldg, ironically.

    It’s crazy to comprehend why the previous mansions were razed. Especially when they most likely wouldn’t have been very old / run down, etc. when they were razed.

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