I think by now most of my readers know about the serious fire that struck the former St. Augustine’s on the night of December 8th on the western edge of the St. Louis Place neighborhood. I went out early on Saturday to take a look at the church and assess the seriousness of the structural…
The Beauty of Dutchtown, 95: Nebraska Avenue Between Osage and Keokuk Streets, Revisited
The Beauty of Dutchtown continues here. I’ve looked at this block before, back in October of 2019, but only cursorily. I decided to come back and look at this fascinating section of Dutchtown, where its history, beginning as farm and pastureland in the St. Louis Commons stretches back to the 1840s. I think there are…
The Beauty of Dutchtown, 94: Meramec Street Between California and Ohio Avenues, North Side, Revisited
Passing by Meramec School we again look at Meramec Street between California and Ohio avenues which we visited back in October of 2019. One the far side of the school we cross Iowa Avenue and there are several in-fill houses, but then are a couple of my favorite little one story houses, seen below, and…
The Beauty of Dutchtown, 93: Meramec Street Between Oregon and California Avenues, North Side
The next block is new, heading east on Meramec Street east of Oregon Avenue. We’re first confronted with a desecration of the street wall in this convenience store, which was originally a national chain, but as so often happens, has devolved into a one-off. Following that, there are more storefronts, the one on the left…
The Beauty of Dutchtown, 92: Meramec Street Between Nebraska and Oregon Avenues, North Side
Picking up east of Nebraska Avenue, we see the former Kern’s Market, which is now Upon This ROCK Holiness Church. Then comes a row of four-family flats, all obviously built at the same time and by the same builder. But as is typical of the early Twentieth Century, and something developers today could learn, that…
The Beauty of Dutchtown, 91: Meramec Street Between Michigan and Nebraska Avenues, North Side, Revisited
The next three blocks have been looked at in the past; I looked at the block between Michigan and Minnesota in October of 2021, Minnesota and Pennsylvania at the same time, and Pennsylvania and Nebraska shortly thereafter. I photographed the corner store above back in October of 2008 (last photo). The first block varies from…
The Beauty of Dutchtown, 90: Meramec Street Between South Compton and Michigan Avenues, North Side, Revisited
Passing South Compton, we look at a block I’ve examined twice before, one time just back in October of 2021, and then the other time way back in October of 2008 (first two photos). Way back in 2009 I visited the St. Anthony of Padua fish fry in the former commercial building above. I do…
The Beauty of Dutchtown, 89: Meramec Street Between Louisiana and South Compton Avenues, North Side
Passing by Louisiana Avenue, we see the evidence of many streets that started out residential or rural, and then began to acquire a commercial character after the arrival of streetcars. For example, as you can see above and below, there is a corner storefront but then right next door is a house with the typical…
The Beauty of Dutchtown, 88: Meramec Street Between Grand Boulevard and Louisiana Avenue, North Side
We left off on the last Beauty of Dutchtown Series with No. 86. On a whim during one of the fog events on an early Saturday I photographed the entirety of the north side of Meramec Street, the main east-west artery in Dutchtown. I’ve photographed some sections before, but it is worthwhile to check in…
Gravois Avenue Between California and Ohio Avenues, Fox Park
On my way to photographing St. Francis de Sales in the fog, and continuing my slow documentation of Gravois Avenue, having done Tower Grove East to the west a while back, I shot some of the buildings on the north side of that main thoroughfare in Fox Park. This giant Spire, formerly Laclede Gas building…