Update: As of August 2017, the church was still standing, based off of photos I found on-line. It looks like the church was active from 1900-1996. I also have updated the name of the church in February of 2020. The town of Mt. Sterling was officially disincorporated after 105 years of existence on April 11,…
Tag: Abandoned Buildings
A Drive Along Cass Avenue
Update: I revisited the corner store above in May of 2020. I revisited the buildings in the two photos below in December of 2022. You can tell that Cass Avenue was once a major thoroughfare through the Near North Side. Heavily devastated by demolition and abandonment, it is one of the most barren streets in…
Fairgrounds, Facing the Park
I drove down the northern drive of Fairgrounds Park, and spotted these buildings lining the north side of the park. It’s a strange mix of all sorts of architectural styles, showing the slow advance of the city over the decades. The building below is at the corner with Grand, and shows what a thriving neighborhood…
KPLR 11, Back of Sun Theater
Update: The theater was beautifully renovated in 2014 by the Lawrence Group. I never noticed before, but the back of the Sun Theater features the logo of KPLR.
St. Louis Place, Night
Update: Demolished for the new National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency in 2017. The City of St. Louis cut ties with Paul McKee’s Northside in June of 2018. Cloaked in darkness, the broad expanse of St. Louis Place north of Cass Avenue, demolished for a failed industrial park, takes on a certain aura in the glow of streetlights….
Newstead Avenue Through the Ville
Update: I have now extensively photographed the Ville and Greater Ville neighborhoods, but I still have much more to explore, and more people to meet. There have been some streetscape upgrades to Newstead Avenue. I came to the humbling, and constantly present, realization on Saturday that I’ve only begun to scratch the surface of the…
Tillie’s Corner, and the Decline of the Near North Side
Update: I visited Tillie’s Corner in February of 2021 for St. Louis Magazine and met Carla and Miguel Alexander to learn about their efforts to save Dunbar Elementary. The high winds last week claimed several architectural victims across the city, including the three Second Empire rowhouses that made up Tillie’s Corner, at Sheridan and Garrison.?…
Demolition, Murphy Building, Downtown East St. Louis
Update: This was only demolition of the back, later addition. I revisited the Murphy Building in July of 2014. It was finally torn down in May of 2015; almost none of the ornamental terracotta, including the two caryatids, was saved from the landfill. The long suffering Murphy Building, infamous for its severe deterioration on its…
Anonymous Building, East St. Louis
I came across this building, seemingly an old store, on Collinsville Avenue east of downtown. I have no idea what it once was, but it looks to be one of the older buildings in the city. While East St. Louis is famous for its beautiful early Twentieth Century architecture, the city dates to before the…