We already saw the front of this house (last photo) at the corner of Michigan and Nagel, but now we see this interesting addition out the back along the latter street. This was the home of J.C. Degenhart, but it doesn’t seem to help us identify the purpose of the building. Perhaps it was a small church or funeral parlor.

Heading down Nagel Street from Michigan Avenue, you can literally see the drop in the original property values commensurate with elevation.

But that’s not to say that the housing stock is not well built and beautiful–of course it is. But it’s fascinating to see how it’s obvious that as we go towards the river and closer to the industries that powered this hard working formerly independent city, the houses were clearly built for the men and women who worked in those factories, and not in the front offices.

This duplex, above and below, is one such interesting example.

Update: Thanks to a reader’s tip, we’ve learned these are in fact some of the oldest houses in the City of St. Louis. Read the article at the Post-Dispatch to learn more about them.

One the south side of the street there are some incredibly old homes, wood frame examples of the Greek Revival that could date back to the Civil War.

This little house below is perhaps one of the oldest, now covered in stucco.

But the majority of houses are on the north-south streets, such as Pennsylvania, which originally were numbered before the annexation by the City of St. Louis.