On the occasion of my 2,500th post here at St. Louis Patina, I thought I would address what has been in the news over the last six months. If you haven’t read my recent article at St. Louis Magazine, read it first, and then come back and read the rest of this post. I don?t…
Tag: Anniversary Posts
Seventh Year Anniversary of Saint Louis Patina: Defining St. Louis Architecture
What is St. Louis architecture? I have been pondering this in the months leading up to the seventh anniversary of this site. But first, a little reflection. Did I really think that this website would still be around in 2014. I don’t know if I even thought about it. This site largely started out as…
250th Anniversary of St. Louis
St. Louis was founded today, or maybe it was yesterday; I can’t be sure. While it might offend some of my readers, I take little stock in the arbitrary date today that is the probable date of the founding of St. Louis. Or was it yesterday? Regardless, this anniversary first off ignores the fact that…
2,000th Post: In Search of Bob Reuter
Update: See a documentary of Bob Reuter here. I always go back and take a mental inventory of where I was when a friend of mine passes away. What was going on, and did I feel anything different? I know exactly where I was when Bob Reuter tragically fell to his death in an open…
Six Year Anniversary of Saint Louis Patina: The Inspiration of Ruins
I realized today, having just taught my Renaissance art class on Monday, that the Renaissance never would have happened if it had not been for the trauma of the collapse of the Roman Empire. There would have been no need to be inspired to recreate the past glories of Rome in the Sixteenth Century if…
Five Year Anniversary Post: A Manichaean Choice? Preservation vs. Development
Five years ago today, when I started this website, I never imagined that I would be posting close to every day. In the first year, I posted anywhere from two to three times a week, at most. Somewhere along the line, though, I posted seven times in one week, and I’ve never stopped. Looking back,…
1,500th Post: The Death of Central St. Louis
Continuing the tradition of my 1,000th post, I will again address a serious threat to the City of St. Louis When was the last time you heard some say the following? “Hey guys, let’s go take a stroll down Kingshighway in between Highway 40 and Interstate 44!” Even if you replace “Kingshighway” with “Grand” or…
September 11th
Update: I revisited September 11th on its twentieth anniversary when I visited Washington, DC in a three part post. You can see those three parts here, here and here. On September 11, 2001, I was living in Washington, DC, attending grad school at George Washington University. My apartment was in Foggy Bottom, six blocks from…
1,000th Post: Sprawl and the Continuing Threat to Our Natural Environment
For my 1,000th post at Saint Louis Patina, I considered having a “greatest hits” or featuring my favorite St. Louis buildings and neighborhoods. Then I realized I had already done that back on my third anniversary, which was only a couple of months ago in May. I realized I needed to focus on something else,…
Three Year Anniversary of Saint Louis Patina: Happy Birthday
Three years ago today, I began celebrating of St. Louis architecture: the good, the bad and the ugly. Through countless tanks of gas, dozens of rearview mirrors and dirty windshields caught in my shot, and only a handful of rude people asking indignantly, “Excuse me sir, what are you doing?” I’m having more fun now…