Churches Around the Courthouse Square, Decorah, Iowa

The ensemble of buildings around the Winneshiek Courthouse in Decorah is extraordinary in that churches fill a full two dies of the square, and the remaining two are partially filled with civic buildings. Starting on the west side and working in a counter-clockwise direction, we see St Benedict’s Roman Catholic Church. As is common with…

Covington, Kentucky

I had the opportunity to explore more of Covington, Kentucky, which is directly across the Roebling Bridge from Cincinnati. There is a stunning quarter of houses built around and after the Civil War to the northeast of the approaches to the bridge, with houses in various styles. You can walk or bike to your office…

St. Ann’s Roman Catholic Church, South Side of Peoria

Due to heavy demolition of the South Side, or Near South Side of Peoria in the mid to late Twentieth Century, the remaining churches in the area south of downtown are easy to spot, notwithstanding their spires, as I noted in regards to St. Joseph’s Roman Catholic Church back in September of 2019. The stunning…

Saints Peter and Paul Cathedral, Indianapolis

The Cathedral of Sts. Peter and Paul was the only cathedral I was not able to enter due to Monday being the Labor Day holiday, but I was still able to view the exterior, which dominates Meridian Avenue north of downtown Indianapolis. The front facade is placed close to the street, so it sticks out…

Former Harris Teachers College

Normal schools, where teachers were trained to teach in primary school education, were located throughout the State of Missouri. My own alma mater, Truman State, was long a teachers college. Harris Teachers College, built according to plans by William B. Ittner in 1905, was the location of the white teachers’ college in St. Louis. The…

Sts. Teresa and Bridget Roman Catholic Church

St. Teresa of Avila Roman Catholic Church dates back to the population explosion and development of the Yeatman estate after the Civil War in 1866. The present church dates from 1900, and as usual, defies the normal classification of architectural styles. The church, particularly the façade, reminds me of the Roman Baroque, but there are…

Former St. Agnes Roman Catholic Church

Founded in 1891 and closed in 1993, the church of St. Agnes sits on a quiet stretch of Sidney Street at the intersection of Salena. It is currently vacant and has been for a number of years. It was designed by James McNamara, and if one looks closely, we can tell that this church was…

School Sisters of Notre Dame, Revisited

I realized recently that my pictures of the School Sisters of Notre Dame in Lemay were not very good, so I went back and captured their motherhouse on a bright, sunny fall morning recently.         

Betty Wheeler Classical Junior Academy, Former Kennard Elementary School

Update: The School Board of the St. Louis Public Schools officially renamed the school after the founder of Metro High School during the summer of 2022, effectively ending the debate over the original name of the school. Samuel M. Kennard Elementary School has been in the news recently, so I thought I would check it…

Tennessee Avenue Between Magnolia and Shenandoah Avenues, East Side

Heading north up Tennessee Avenue, there are more houses that come in pairs or in triplets. And again, most are actually two-families disguised to look like single-family houses. The architecture reflects the more linear and stern forms of early Twentieth Century building trends in the areas around Tower Grove Park. But there are also houses,…