I looked at the Hawthorne Apartments a long, long time ago, and I was walking down West Pine Boulevard recently, realizing again what a beautiful building it was. It’s typical in that it has a heavily ornamented base, much like a classical Greek or Roman column, then a less decorated shaft, and the finally a…
Tag: Central West End
Views of Central St. Louis from St. Louis University Hospital’s Parking Garage
I was checking out the beautiful Emil Frei & Associates stained glass windows in the chapel of the new St. Louis University Hospital, and when I looked out from my perch in the parking garage, I captured the stunning view of the skyline of the central corridor of St. Louis. Above is the Central West…
Clayton Avenue Roundhouse, Revisited
Update: Destroyed shortly after these photographs were taken. I went by the old roundhouse on Clayton Avenue and realized the area had been completely transformed. When I first went by almost a decade ago, the site had been choked with trees and thick underbrush. It grew even thicker in the intervening years, and I didn’t…
Maryland Plaza Between Euclid and Kingshighway, North Side
Now known as Maryland Plaza, the stretch of street between Euclid Avenue and Kingshighway was originally just Maryland Avenue. But it was platted with wide setbacks, and fire insurance maps show that it was known as Maryland Place. The apartment building above and below sits far back from Maryland, following the setback rule. But of…
Maryland Avenue Between North Taylor and Euclid Avenues, North Side
Next up is the long block from North Taylor to Euclid avenues, which starts with a double apartment building, which included a storefront on the corner, which could be supported due to the density of the neighborhood. Indeed, at the height of the Central West End, many of the apartment buildings in the area had…
Maryland Avenue Between North Newstead and Taylor Avenues, North Side
Crossing over North Newstead Avenue, mature trees block the view of the stately institutional building that stands on the northwest corner. If you traveled back in time over a century, the view would have been dramatically different. The entire eastern half of the block was taken up by the estate of Mayor David R. Francis,…
Maryland Avenue Between North Boyle and Newstead Avenues, North Side
Heading west on Maryland Avenue, there first is a very nice in-fill building, which I think is a condominium with three units. It looks good, and fits in well with the neighborhood. Next up is a historic building, and I wonder what is going on here. Is this an example of the eastern part of…
McPherson Avenue Between North Newstead and Boyle Avenues, North Side
At the northeast corner of North Newstead and McPherson avenues, we see something surprising: an apartment building. It makes me wonder what would have happened to the rest of the block if the population of the Central West End had continued to become denser. Would more houses have been knocked down and replaced with similar…
McPherson Avenue, North Taylor to Newstead Avenues, North Side
Passing over North Taylor Avenue, we enter two blocks of houses that resemble the large lots of land to the north on Fullerton/Westminster Place that we looked at a week ago. The first house, on the left above, is much older than the rest, and surely dates to the early 1890s. There are far more…
McPherson Avenue at North Taylor Avenue, The Sherwood Court Apartments
At the northwest corner of North Taylor and McPherson avenues is this stellar apartment building. It’s huge, and contains dozens of apartments. But if you look closely, again it’s really just a bunch of six-family flats built right next to each other with exterior entrances for each “unit.” The Sherwood Court Apartments were developed by…