While sitting in stopped traffic just west of 270, I looked out my window and saw the detritus of an earlier crash. What a mess that interchange is; people die around there all the time because of its dangerous conditions, but most people don’t think twice about still frequenting the area.
Old Slave Road, Revisited
Update: There was an effort to change the name of the road in 2013. The Wildwood City Council voted to keep the name in 2013; a new effort changed the name to Elijah Madison. I drove back by Old Slave Road, and was surprised to see that the road is now signed with its historic…
Sole Survivor, Scott Avenue
Update: Now the home of Arch Reactor. Why is this building still here, and the other fifty building within a two block radius all gone? It is one of the great mysteries of urban renewal; why do the wrecking balls only take 98% of the building stock, and not 100%? Was the owner particularly tenacious,…
The Italianate and Second Empire Legacy of Grand Center
While Grand Center and the surrounding neighborhoods are now well-known respectively for being the theater district of St. Louis and acres of parking lots and desolation, the area first saw life as a wealthy residential section of the city. While photographs commemorate the 1880-1900 housing stock of the area, very little of it remains, replaced…
Mount Grace Convent
Update: See more pictures from May of 2014. Having read about the Pink Sisters at Built St. Louis, I knew I had to check out this bastion of peace in the middle of the College Hill neighborhood. The church is an odd mix of several styles, so it’s hard to really label it anything. But…
U.S. Steel Building, Old Empire Brewery
Update: The building was torn down by Cortex in the spring of 2015. On Sarah, just north of Clayton Avenue and the railroad tracks is this interesting building, decked out with some intriguing ornament. Currently, a large metal shop sits behind the building, but it is clearly much newer than the tan brick building with…
Roundhouse Remnants, Clayton Avenue
Update: I went back and revisited the remains of the roundhouse in the winter of 2021 and discovered that the thick underbrush which had obscured the site in in January of 2012 had been cleared. It was demolished shortly after the second visit. Finally, after weeks of waiting for the weather to break, I made…
Bismarck Street and Bad Planning
I love how Bismarck Street (now long gone due to urban renewal on the south riverfront in the 1960’s) starts and stops thirty feet from its two ends. I know growing up, I assumed the City laid out all of the streets in a careful, Euclidian way, but in reality, just like modern suburban subdivisions,…
Chicago and St. Louis: Differences in Ecclesiastical Architecture
Recently, while in Chicago, Rob Powers and I drove around looking for all of the churches that I’ve always seen from the interstates and wondered what they were like. One in particular, right down in one of the oldest parts of the city is this church, which I suspect is a Jesuit church since their…
Saint Louis Patina Wins Best Architecture Blog Award
I was elated to learn Tuesday night at the Riverfront Times 2012 Best of the Web Awards Ceremony at the Old Rock House that I won the Best Architecture Blog Award. You can read the write-up here, and also you can find me in the print edition available at your local coffee house or market….