You may or may have not been familiar with the local branch of the Karpeles Manuscript Library Museum (yeah, it’s a mouthful), which originally opened at the former Third Christian Scientist Church on Russell Boulevard in Compton Heights, before being gutted by flames in April of 2019. It has sat in ruins ever since. The association announced that it had purchased the old Beiderwieden Funeral Home at 3620 Chippewa in Dutchtown, but I grew suspicious because it never seemed to make any headway at opening. My research team discovered that they sold the property in September of this year, and have now taken the St. Louis branch off its website. So ends, apparently, a strange chapter in the Karpeles saga in St. Louis.

The old funeral home has sat vacant for several years, and I don’t know what the new owner has planned for it. It has a large parking lot, which is perhaps what its strongest attribute is. The Beiderwiedens owned the former and now-demolished Winkelmann Mansion up north, as well, operating it as a funeral home for years.