Update: The campanile was gutted by fire on October 26, 2021. Designed by Mauran, Russell and Garden in 1907, Second Baptist Church has been sitting vacant for a long time now. Various plans have fallen through, from I understand, due to a lack of parking. As can be seen below, the campanile was once more…
Holy Corners Revisited, West Side of Kingshighway
I looked at Holy Corners way back in January of 2009, and I figured it was long overdue for an update. First up is the beautiful Tuscan Temple, which is an example of the Doric Order of classical architecture. But I have to chuckle, as it is Roman in form, as it only has columns…
Bellefontaine Cemetery, Fall 2020
I took a drive around Bellefontaine Cemetery when the leaves were just starting to change, and snapped some pictures of some sculpture and mausolea.
The House on Vandeventer
Vandeventer Avenue is an interesting street, in that it has had many names over the years along different parts: Market Street Road, Manchester Road and then finally the current appellation. It was already platted out by the 1870s, and it is obvious that the road has been graded since some of the original houses along…
St. Louis Award, Forest Park
Donated in 1965, this sculpture commemorates the St. Louis Award. It sits behind some bushes close to the World’s Fair Pavilion and the northeast entrance to the Zoo.
Friedrich Jahn Monument
The Friedrich Jahn Monument is on a stretch of road that was removed in the 1990s during renovations of Forest Park. Jahn founded the movement for gymnastics in Germany, and there were many such Turnvereinen in St. Louis. Most are now closed, but they were once a formidable social and political force in St. Louis.
Charless Street Between Indiana Avenue and Beauty Alley
Charless Avenue and its alley are perhaps two of the most isolated but fascinating lanes in St. Louis, with large trees obscuring old Greek Revival houses, half flounders and mysterious ruins. There is this lot, with a low stone wall that I strongly suspect are foundation walls, with the outline of a roof on the…
Gaine Street Between Indiana Avenue and DeVolsey Street
Forgive me for constantly returning to the narrow lanes of McKinley Heights just to the northeast of the intersection of Jefferson and Gravois, but the area dates back to before the Civil War, and I found out some new information about it for my recent article for St. Louis Magazine. The houses date easily to…
Shenandoah Avenue Between Jefferson and Missouri Avenues
Shenandoah Avenue through McKinley Heights marks a transition from very old houses in the DeVolsey Addition on the south side of the street, to the late suburban buildings of the late Nineteenth Century. First we head east starting just east of South Jefferson, looking at the north side of the street. There’s a wide variety…
Indiana Avenue Between Ann and Shenandoah Avenues
Indiana Avenue south of Ann is a fascinating mix of houses; up at the north end of the street are houses typical of much of the rest of McKinley Heights–built in the early Twentieth Century. But then, and this picture below illustrates it, the houses jump back several decades, and the Italianate style appears on…