I’ll be honest; I got totally lost in the Penrose on Saturday. I really love the neighborhood because it’s so hidden away and so few people know about. I wanted to get back and see how it was doing, and show off more of its great, well-kept streets and tidy streets. But I don’t know where the heck I was the majority of the time. These first photos are around North Newstead Avenue, and places I’ve been before in the area.

Some of the architecture is what I might expect around Kingshighway in South St. Louis, or parts of Dutchtown. But the terrain is very interesting, and many of the streets are very narrow and one-way in places.

But then right in the middle of the area is this really rugged hill with some sort of industrial concern hiding behind some thick underbrush.

I’ve looked at this area before, and there were dairy farms nearby.

And then I made this wonderful discovery: this is the former Bowman United Methodist Church, which was located in this building on Athlone Avenue from 1921 to 1996. A 1940s directory listed the church as having the following amenities: auditorium with stage, gymnasium, showers, clubs and classes. I might have technically wandered out of the Penrose neighborhood at this point.