Update: I went back in the summer of 2023. This is Gary, Indiana. A city only founded in 1906, which peaked at a population of 178,320 in 1960, an increase of 33% from the 1950 federal census. In the most recent census of 2020, it has dropped to 69,093, a drop of 61%. These photos…
Tag: Cape Cod
Moller House and Washington Street, Florissant
You’ll have to take my word for it that there’s a really historic house back behind the dense undergrowth. It’s the Moller House, built in 1830. Greek Revival in form, it seems to still be painted white as it was back in 1933. Of course, it would not have been painted originally. The brick is…
Around Sacred Heart, Florissant
I’ve looked at Sacred Heart Roman Catholic Church before. which despite Florissant’s French roots, was originally a German language parish. Many of the buildings surrounding the church likewise have historic ties to the community, as well. Hendel’s Grocery Store was built in 1873, and was operated by that family from 1915 to 1993. It is…
Lee Avenue Between Marcus and North Newstead Avenues
Things continue to look great crossing over Marcus Avenue as we remain in the Penrose neighborhood heading east on Lee Avenue. A first appears, which is multi-family housing, as seen above. But then some really fascinating and unique Gingerbread houses reappear, and they show designs that I haven’t seen anywhere in the city. There’s even…
Lee Avenue Between North Kingshighway and Marcus Avenue
I had some time to kill, so I decided to explore the entire length of Lee Avenue from North Kingshighway to North Grand Boulevard. While there’s technically four blocks east of Grand, there are not any houses facing the street. At Kingshighway, Lee technically turns to Brown Avenue and enters the Mark Twain Industrial Park….
The West End, Early Summer 2023
The West End neighborhood is one of my favorite parts of the city, and I recently went back to explore some more. I discovered that while many streets are seeing revitalization, there are others just east of the border with St. Louis County that are struggling with abandonment. These houses are off of streets such…
Morgan Ford South of Gravois, Bevo
Jumping around a bit, we’re back to the intersection of Morgan Ford and Gravois, and we’ll head south, starting at this replica of a famous landmark in Sarajevo, Bosnia and Hercegovina. We looked at the intersection before, and saw there was once a row of buildings at the corner that is now a parking lot…
Weird and Wonderful Tower Grove South: Oleatha Avenue Between Oak Hill and Roger Place
You never know what sort of surprises you’ll find when looking around the streets of St. Louis, and in this case I found these unique porches added to the fronts of otherwise common houses. A little bit of a mix of Spanish and Tudor influences, there were only about four or five of these in…
Weird and Wonderful Tower Grove South: Oleatha Avenue Between Bent and Oak Hill Avenues
Tower Grove South was still being built up in the southwest corner well into the 1930s, as these Cape Cod houses attest. There are also Gingerbread style houses, as well, which were being built to the southwest in the rapidly expanding St. Louis Hills neighborhood. This subdivision is the Russell’s Second Addition, and while it…
Ray Avenue Northeast of Delor Street, Bevo
Heading back down that stretch of Delor Street we’ve looked at before back in July of 2013, we pass by the immediate neighborhood around St. John the Baptist, which I examined back in July of 2013 and and June of 2021. We’ll head of Ray Avenue, which is just one of many of the quiet…