Vulcan Street, May 2022

Update: The stone duplex was gutted by fire on January 31, 2024, with the fire spreading to the brick house to the north. I went back down to Vulcan Street in an isolated corner of Carondelet east of Broadway to see how things were doing. Needless to say, I saw little that was doing better….

Far Southern Carondelet, Revisited May 2022

I last looked at the area I called far south Carondelet back in July of 2018, and I’m continually drawn back to the narrow streets and Civil War era housing. These buildings are on or around Davis Street, as well as Reilly Street. They are threatened however, by the encroaching of industry, which needs huge…

Sad Loss, Carondelet

Update: Demolished sometime before the winter of 2023. Sadly, the beautiful house on Michigan Avenue in Carondelet that I featured back in March of 2021 suffered a devastating fire only three months after I originally photographed it. No word yet if it’s salvageable, but judging from how heavily damaged it is, the chances are pretty…

Early Houses in Northern Carondelet

I’ve looked at the super rare Carpenter Gothic house before, but there are also other extremely unique and very old houses located in the northern reaches of Carondelet that date back to the earliest days of the then-independent city and may even predate the Civil War. The first tow houses are located right on Michigan…

Frank W. Choisel Residence, Carondelet

This house, which I suspect is one of the earliest examples of the Second Empire style in St. Louis, was the home of Frank W. Choisel, editor of the The Realty and Builder Record, which published information on new buildings being built in St. Louis. It is a critical source on the built environment in…

Revisiting Carondelet: Minnesota Avenue Between Mott and Iron Streets

On the other side of Minnesota Avenue from The Sisters of St. Joseph of Carondelet is this row of houses, many showing alterations from the passage of time. The cornices are missing here and there, but overall they look much the same as they probably did a century ago. The proliferation of tan brick also…

Revisiting Carondelet: South Broadway Between Quincy and Haven Streets

Moving north past Quincy Street, the majority of the historic built environment is on the west side of South Broadway. On the east side are a bunch of vacant lots and rusty warehouses. Still, there are more elaborately decorated Italianate storefronts that are not common in St. Louis anymore, largely swept away by later development…