I stumbled upon these photographs of the two former locations of St. John’s Hospital (now known as Mercy Hospital St. Louis, located at the northeast corner of I-270 and Highway 40), and I couldn’t help but want to share them. The image above shows the building at the southwest corner of Lucas and Jefferson avenues….
Tag: Beaux-Arts
Through the Leafless Trees
I’d been having some conversations lately about the former Jewish Orthodox Old Home, and I was poking around and realized you can see an old entrance pavilion facing East Grand Boulevard just to the east of the large Modernist wing on the corner with Blair Avenue. It has severely deteriorated, so much so that I’m…
Downtown Civic Buildings, Lincoln, Illinois
Oh no, they pulled a Chambord on me! But anyway, the Logan County Courthouse, constructed in 1905, is a beautiful building, nonetheless. It is relatively unadorned, and seems to be constructed out of yellow limestone or sandstone. Like many palaces in Europe, the first floor possesses rusticated stonework, while the upper stories features polished finish….
End of Winter 2023 Odds and Ends
The old Soulard Branch of the St. Louis Public Library has had several uses over the last decade besides the commercial space facing 7th Boulevard. There was “The Library” and then “The Archives.” They’re both gone. Below, in McKinley Heights, I still can’t believe that Second Empire house below is sitting vacant; the property values…
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…
Pershing Place Between Euclid Avenue and Kingshighway
In between Euclid and Kingshighway, Pershing Place takes on a distinctively different character, with much more emphasis on English influences in architecture. Interestingly, the lots on the north side of the former Berlin Avenue, which Pershing Place once was before World War I, were actually platted as part of the larger Hortense Place addition. There…
Pershing Place Between North Taylor and Euclid Avenues
Laid out originally as Berlin Avenue, the private street that stretches from North Taylor Avenue to North Kingshighway is cut in two by North Euclid Avenue. We’ll look at the street in two parts. I don’t think Pershing Place was laid out as a private street, and its original name of Berlin Avenue seems to…
Newport, Kentucky
Alright, alright, we’re done with Cincinnati, at least for a year or so until I go back. But before we head back to St. Louis, we’re going to visit the two historic suburbs across the river in Kentucky. We’ll start with Newport, which is one of those surprises I never expected to find across the…
Cincinnati Music Hall, Over the Rhine, Cincinnati, Ohio
The Cincinnati Music Hall, built in 1878, is one of those monumental buildings in America that might very well have been swept away by urban renewal, replaced by a new performing arts center. Instead, it has been revitalized, and almost 150 years later, is still very much part of the cultural fabric of the city…
Old Louisville, Part Two
Continuing our look around the Old Louisville neighborhood of Louisville, we see an evolution of styles, but again, they are in keeping with what we would expect to see in St. Louis. In this case, we now see what would be best described as Renaissance Revival. Also, there are houses that have elements of the…