Way back in June of 2017, I started a series called “South Down Compton Avenue,” which started in Tower Grove East just south Arsenal, looking at the east side of the street. I thought I would return to this interesting artery, but this time heading north again, looking at the west side of the street in more detail, since the North Up Compton series didn’t look too closely at the built environment. Since the west side of Compton in Tower Grove East is just Roosevelt High School, I’ll be skipping that block. I’ll also be starting further north, at Osage Street, just north of Marquette Park in the Dutchtown neighborhood. See the east side of the street from June of 2021 here. The Greek Revival country house has been renovated above.

But architecturally, that house is an anomaly, a remnant of when Dutchtown was a country exurb of the City to the northeast. Most of the buildings are from the early Twentieth Century, when streetcars served residents who were leaving more dense neighborhoods in the core. You can see the earlier photos of the west side here.

The architecture is beautiful, and I’ve always loved the one-story bungalows with the white glazed brick trim and pressed tin cornices. The house below may be vacant but it can be saved.

Abandonment is creeping in, and I hope the future is filled with people moving into the neighborhood, and not with out-of-state land speculators who do not understand the area or have little to know concern about the health of St. Louis.