I realized I have never done a post on St. Mary of Victories down on Chouteau’s Landing, just across South 3rd Street to the east of Interstates 44 and 55. I wrote an article about the church several years ago at St. Louis Magazine.

As can be seen above, the church was once part of a much more dense urban environment; the building above was the rectory; according to William Swekosky, this was also the location of a log cabin owned by Jean Baptist Charles Lucas. It was demolished in the mid Twentieth Century and is now a side lot.

Varying sources state that George I. Barnett and/or Franz Saler designed the church. I believe that Barnett probably was the architect, and Saler was the general contractor. I have found a bit of misleading information from many sources that believe Saler was a trained architect, but I think that is incorrect. Business contracts and other lawsuits Saler had to file show that he was in fact in the building trades, and not a professional architect. Now, like his forebears in Europe, he was almost certainly capable of designing vernacular buildings, so he very well might be responsible for the design of some landmarks in St. Louis without a formal academic training like Barnett.

The facade is tried and true Neoclassicism, as would be in style in 1844, when the church was built. Strong, clean lines in the pilasters rise up to the temple pediment and the dentillated cornice.

The Egyptian style grand portal is crowned with a lintel supported by two ogees. The front doors seem to have been messed with in the 1950s when this became a Hungarian national church. Originally of course, this was the second parish in the St. Louis diocese and responded to the rapid increase in German speaking Catholics in St. Louis.

And the block on which the church sits is historic in its own right. As mentioned before, Swekosky and his faithful deed research during his tenure at the Recorder of Deeds revealed that some of the oldest French settlers lived in the area, and Lucas once owned the land on which the church now sits. Also, at #51, this is block has one of the lowest numbers in the City that survives (any lower and they’ve been destroyed by the Arch grounds), and is in fact part of the original street grid of St. Louis. There are no subdivisions, but rather legal descriptions are rather dimensions of the lots. Even more interesting, the church property is still owned, according to City records, by the St. Mary’s German Catholic Church School Trust. According to the Missouri Secretary of State, that organization was founded on April 23, 1867.

It is a shame that this historic area has been permanently ruined by the presence of a gigantic interstate overpass, which ruins property values and quality of life. While the sound of traffic is not noticeable inside the church, it is still an annoyance.

The other building on the north side of the church front, which I believe was the convent, was also demolished in the mid Twentieth Century.

The lone priest now lives in the former parish school.

By the way, there is a famous church in Rome of the same name.