Heading east from New Haven, we’re going to be looking at Washington, Missouri in Franklin County. I’m actually kind of surprised, only two months from the sixteenth anniversary of St. Louis Patina, that I’ve never covered this important city on the Missouri River. We’ll start our tour by looking at St. Francis Borgia Roman Catholic…
Tag: Art-Deco
Front Street, New Haven, Franklin County
Perhaps it’s illogical that Front Street faces a bluff and not the Missouri River, but nonetheless, the businesses lining the side of the thoroughfare that runs parallel to the train tracks is a wholly intact row of storefronts. The town has a website promoting the downtown’s stores and events. The buildings are all occupied or…
Checking In on the Metro East: Venice into Madison
On a lark I decided to see what was happening over in the Metro East, so I headed over the McKinley Bridge and first passed through Venice, Illinois. The first stop is a building that has long been many of my friends’ favorite, with its cool central pavilion, the Venice Recreation Hall. After that is…
Mill Creek Valley, Cincinnati, Ohio
Lick Run, which we looked at yesterday, empties into Mill Creek, the industrial spine of Cincinnati. Not surprisingly, it has been heavily modified, altered and polluted by humans over the last two hundred years. There is something sublime about the giant swath of hundreds of miles of railroad tracks that you can see fleetingly while…
The Beauty of Dutchtown, 85: South Grand Boulevard and Delor Street
A little bit further south and a bit of an outlier, this building built in 1930 is an interesting mix of styles. Constructed in 1930, this complex has two distinct sides. There was the more conservative public and commercial side facing Grand, but then there is the more experimental side facing Delor. That less busy…
The Beauty of Dutchtown, 83: Gustine Avenue and Chippewa Street
Much later, this building built in 1937 shows the influence of the Streamline Modern on its design. The large limestone or cast concrete panels above the windows are a nice touch, with the stars. The orange brick runs up the walls in stripes, giving a sense of speed. I also would like to invite readers…
The Beauty of Dutchtown, 75: Northeast Corner of Keokuk Street and Bamberger Avenues
Essentially four six-family apartment buildings built together in a cogent whole in 1929, this building rejects the Tudor Revival of the building right across the street, and while also a U-shape complex, it rotates 90 degrees clockwise, breaking up the streetwall of Keokuk. I guess I would describe this as moving towards the Art-Deco, judging…
Downtown from the McKinley Bridge
The views of downtown from the McKinley Bridge are also impressive. The vacant Southwestern Bell building can be seen below, with the boarded up windows that were shot out by stray bullets earlier this year clearly visible. The Eagleton Federal Courthouse is to the west. Then there is the iconic Civil Courts building. The Stan…
Lindell Boulevard from Grand Boulevard to Vandeventer Avenue
Ah, Lindell Boulevard! I avoid the street like the plague because it is such a dysfunctional street. Once a residential street lined with mansions, sometime in the Twentieth Century it became the busiest street in the city. The mansions were demolished, and it became lined with businesses, while the through traffic jumped over to Highway…
Urban Density Surviving on Grand Boulevard
While all those demolitions are going on down south, there are actually a fair number of really nice buildings still standing just to the north, particularly on the west side of Grand Boulevard. Justine Peterson has a presence in one building, nice rehabbed above. There’s this spectacular Art-Deco storefront above, which is a rarity in…