I looked at The Naked Truth back in 2007, and I thought it was due time to go back and more carefully examine this famous sculpture that was moved around Reservoir Park with the construction of Interstate 44. It commemorates the three editors of the Westliche Post, a German language newspaper that I can attest…
Tag: Compton Heights
Compton Hill Reservoir Park, Revisited November 2021
The shadows were growing long late on a Saturday when I decided to go by Reservoir Park in the Compton Heights neighborhood, which I realized I first photographed way back in October of 2007. The park represents a time and place where civic architecture beautified even the most functional features of the St. Louis landscape….
In Ruins
Update: The planned new location never opened and that building was sold in September of 2022. I personally think the Karpeles Manuscript Library can be restored, but I imagine that decision will be up to the insurance company and the owners as to what its future will be. See it the night before, and in…
In Flames
Update: The planned new location never opened and that building was sold in September of 2022. The Karpeles Manuscript Library was gutted by fire March 26. I arrived to see the tail end of the conflagration, when fire fighters were helping remove valuable objects from the building. The building was the former Third Christian Scientist…
Milton Boulevard, Compton Heights
Hawthorne and Longfellow Boulevards are famous in Compton Heights, branching off as they do from the gates right off of Grand Boulevard, but there’s also Milton Boulevard, which cuts off (and is a two-way street) from Hawthorne over to Nebraska Avenue. It’s a cool street.
South City YMCA Demolition
My pictures will begin to have more blue sky in them, hopefully. This photograph was taken from Vanderburgh Avenue, one of the shortest streets in St. Louis, showing the now vanished YMCA on South Grand. It will be replaced by an apartment building.
Greek Revival, Compton Heights
Constructed in 1894, 3456 Hawthorne Boulevard would have been considered out of date with the architectural styles of the time. William F. Woerner, its owner, was a prominent lawyer in St. Louis, writing this article about murder and inheritance issues in 1924. Perhaps the Greek Revival style, so popular in courthouses, affected the choice for…
Relief Arch, Compton Heights
Little details like this, the brick relief arch transferring the weight of the wall above this limestone lintel, are what makes the houses of Compton Heights so special.