The 4300 block of Lexington has some surprises, such as this rich, almost black brick front apartment building. It is abandoned, but it still has wonderful details such as these stained glass windows on the side elevation. But there are also occupied apartment buildings, which are well-maintained and in good condition. I find these slender…
4200 Block of Lexington Avenue, The Greater Ville
We encountered something that is relatively rare in the Greater Ville neighborhood and that is an industrial building. Also, the brick is not standard St. Louis red brick, but the sort of color one might expect in Chicago. What was this building? Well, there are some clues. There are faded painted signs that say “Ceilings”…
Paris Avenue, The Greater Ville
Paris Avenue is a short, two-block long street, heading south from Natural Bridge Avenue, and is lined with beautiful tract homes, each one slightly different from the next. Quiet streets like this provide a refuge from the traffic on nearby arteries.
Clarence Avenue, The Greater Ville
Clarence Avenue is one of the few streets in the entire Greater Ville neighborhood that looks like it was built all at once. I suspect there was some sort of field or other agricultural concern here that was bought and subdivided. For the most part, it seems like they are occupied as well, largely because…
Harris Avenue, The Greater Ville
Harris Avenue is two blocks long, coming down south from Natural Bridge Avenue, and these two buildings are in the block south of Lexington Avenue. I looked at a satellite image of the apartment building above, and the roof hatch was open, and I suspect someone climbed up there to steal the ornamental terracotta from…
North Taylor Avenue, The Greater Ville
Taylor Avenue starts way down south and makes it all the way up to Interstate 70 in the Penrose neighborhood. Along its path, it goes by many famous addresses, including Lewis Place, and other private streets. But there are more of my little bungalows with their individualize false half story fronts that give each house…
Whittier Street, The Greater Ville
Update: I visited Chuck Berry’s mausoleum in this post from late May of 2020. Whittier Street. It is actually one of the most culturally significant streets in world cultural history, and the City of St. Louis apparently could care less. It was on this street that modern rock ‘n’ roll was created by Chuck Berry…
North Sarah Street, The Greater Ville
Update: I revisited the street in the summer of 2019 to see how it was doing. Sarah Street is another one of those north-south arteries that is more famous for its path through the Grove or the Central West End, but we must not forget that it goes much further north through neighborhoods that are…
Clay Avenue, The Greater Ville
Someone has invested some serious money into either relaying or tuckpointing these four family apartment buildings on the short north-sorth Clay Street. They’re beautiful little buildings, built at the same time, and they show how people do care when they have the resources. Below, we have another example of those beautiful little one story bungalows…
Rolla Place, The Greater Ville
Rolla Place is another one block street that runs north-south between the major east-west streets. There are many vacant lots, but I was intrigued by this house, which has a second floor added on. It is not hugely common, but I do see it throughout the city.