Update: I went back and surveyed the damage to St. Augustine’s in this post from December 20, 2022. There was another fire in the front of the church on January 22, 2024. The church has now been demolished, except for the belltower. The unthinkable finally happened. A fire broke out in the former St. Augustine’s…
Gustine Avenue Between Chippewa Street and Gravois Avenue, West Side
I’ve heard it referred to as the Wedge, but anyway, the triangular area of the official city neighborhood of Tower Grove South bounded by Grand on the east, Gravois on the north, and Chippewa on the south has a character all its own. I’ve looked at it briefly in the past back in December of…
McNair Avenue Between Gravois Avenue and Victor Street, East Side
McNair Avenue in Benton Park runs through a very old part of the neighborhood, laid out early on through an area that was actually a French land claim known as the DeVolsey Tract. It was also subdivided as the Kingsbury Addition. As is typical of the neighborhood, the housing stock is a mix of the…
Indiana Avenue Between Sidney and Lynch Streets, East Side
I realized I had mostly been looking at the west side of Indiana Avenue in the past, as well as further south. But the east side of Indiana Avenue just south of Sidney Street in Benton Park is actually a very interesting mix of buildings. First there is a group of Second Empire houses close…
Redevelopment Continuing, Lafayette Square
Back in May of this year, I checked in on the massive new development transforming the long moribund northwest side of the Lafayette Square neighborhood. I think most people know the story: the wealthy area declined and industry moved in (though that’s not entirely true, as early sources show that dirty industry had always been…
Bellefontaine Cemetery, Late November 2022
I realized it had been some time since I had photographed Bellefontaine Cemetery, so I snapped some late November views that were new or ones that I had not taken in a long time.
St. Francis de Sales Roman Catholic Oratory, In the Fog
I thought it would be interesting to rush out into the fog Saturday morning and see if I could get any interesting photos of tall buildings. St. Francis de Sales was almost invisible on the fog-cloaked streets around 8:30 AM, even just two blocks away. But when I drew closer, it appeared out of the…
New Karpeles Manuscript Library Museum in Dutchtown Not Happening
Update: Severely damaged by fire on February 14, 2025. 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…
Redevelopment, Former A.G. Edwards Buildings
Update: Demolition was proceeding nicely in the fall of 2023. As readers might suspect, I have been bedridden, overwhelmed with grief at the announcement that two of the oldest buildings on the former A.G. Edwards campus are marked for demolition in order to build two new hotels, a couple of blocks from the new soccer…