Update: I revisited the area in June of 2020. Update: I revisited the area yet again in November of 2020 in two posts here and here.

Tucked away, back on narrow little streets and alleys that have their own names, south of grand Russell Boulevard, an old, intimate part of the inner city of St. Louis survives.

Now dominated by the much wider, and out of control, Gravois Avenue (which interestingly ended at Dolman at the time), this southern realm of McKinley Heights has small, old houses set far back on their lots.

And alley houses, still occupied, and in the example below, back up to original wood frame houses, challenge our notion of what St. Louis’s density could be.

Currently falling into disrepair, this hidden realm sits far too close to Lafayette Square and Benton Park to remain hidden forever.