I’ve become intrigued by the physical forms of neighborhoods where the dominant orientation of buildings face only one orientation. For example, in Tower Grove South, houses and apartments face north or south on east-west streets, even at the intersections with the north-south arteries. But…there are disobedient houses on those north-south arteries that choose to face…
Tag: Abandoned Buildings
Meramec Street Between Ohio Avenues and South Grand Boulevard, South Side, Dutchtown
I’ve looked at the north side of Meramec Street in Dutchtown extensively, in two groups of posts that start here and here, but I’ve never looked at the south side except here and there with individual buildings. Let’s start at South Broadway and work our way west. Thanks to Found St. Louis, I learned the…
1400 Block of Newhouse Avenue, Hyde Park, Revisited
I walked down this stretch of Newhouse Avenue back in January of 2018 so after looking at the damage at the old Friedens Sunday School Hall, I thought I would take a look at how the block was doing. There had been continued abandonment and deterioration. The building below hasn’t seemed to have changed at…
Friedens Sunday School Hall, Gutted by Fire
I’ll be upfront with you all and say I’m going to be reporting a lot of bad news in the coming weeks. First up is the former Sunday school hall for the now destroyed former Friedens German Evangelical Church, which had fallen victim to a fire in January of 2025. The hall, I believe from…
Carr School, Before Demolition
Well, I heard in the news that the old Carr Elementary School, which has been abandoned since in 1983, is being demolished. By then, the neighborhood it served had largely been annihilated by urban renewal. I detailed the historically rich story of the Carr Square article in two parts, here and here, for St. Louis…
Osceola Street Between South Spring Street and 37th Street
I then cruised down Osceola Street, where I saw something surprising: an abandoned house. It is a rarity in what is other a very healthy neighborhood. It’s also a neat little house. Much of the blocks on Osceola are the sides of houses since they primarily face the north-south street, but we have some nice…
St. Mark’s, Six Months After the Fire
I thought I would check up on how the former St. Mark’s Roman Catholic Church was doing six months after the severe fire that struck in the depths of winter. The answer: not very good. There has been little change other than the dramatic growth of plants, trees and other vegetation up the sides of…
Crunden-Martin, Advanced State of Demolition
Crunden Martin, which was gutted and partially destroyed by a fire back in November of 2025, is now being demolished in earnest. Demolition had begun back in June. In fact, by the time you see these photographs, much more of the buildings will be gone. I suspect they didn’t save any of the iconic letters…
Demolitions Coming, Former Marillac College
UMSL is planning on demolishing some of its buildings on the south side of campus, many of which I have documented before. On the chopping block is the building above, the former Franciscan monastery which I looked at back in June of 2011; it has spectacular stained glass windows which I assume will go in…
Hamilton Avenue Between Romaine Place and MLK Dr Drive, Hamilton Heights
Heading north from Romaine Place, I traveled north on Hamilton Avenue towards Dr. Martin Luther King Dr. I could have sworn I’ve been up this section of Hamilton Avenue, but I guess not. This stately building was the Franke Motor Car Company, constructed for $25,000 in 1925 and designed by Otto J. Kriegg, whose offices…