I couldn’t believe it; I came over the hill, almost to Route A, and there I saw it, sitting in splendid isolation. Still standing, period. Abandoned for decades, and last seen by me in the spring of 2000, I was shocked and pleasantly surprised to discover that the house has weathered the elements for the…
Tag: Deserted
Out in the Country in Adair County, Northeast of Kirksville
Driving the backroads of Adair County, one encounters signs of habitation in small clusters. More often, one is met with desolation. Abandoned barns, signs of the former agricultural legacy of the area, sit in weed-choked fields. Farming continues out here, along with ranching, but due to the greater efficiency of modern agriculture, less people are…
Vulcan Street, Carondelet
Update: The street has not been doing well. See its deterioration in July of 2017Â and 2018, and August of 2020. The stone duplex was gutted by fire on January 31, 2024, with the fire spreading to the brick house to the north. The historic fabric of St. Louis is slipping away east of Broadway, both…
Zombie Subdivision, Wildwood
My parents and I headed out to our favorite zombie subdivision in far western St. Louis County, off of Wild Horse Creek Road. What was intended to be a high-end subdivision sits largely empty, with the empty lots not even being mowed anymore.
Abandonment and History
Update: I have no idea where this farm is, or its current status. I came across this abandoned farmstead in the west central portion of Wildwood; the barn is starting to deteriorate and has collapsed on one side. A simple house nearby sits empty. I often remark that while the population of Wildwood is higher…
An Anonymous Row of Houses, Crumbling
Update: These houses suffered structural collapse by January of 2017 (fifth photo down) and then more deterioration by May of 2019 (eighth photo down). I discovered this beautiful row of houses a month or so ago, but I didn’t get a chance to photograph them. I went back and took a series of pictures, more…
St. Louis Place, Continuing to Fascinate
Despite the drought, nature has once again returned to St. Louis Place to slowly swallow up houses and storefronts long sitting vacant. Update: The Winkelmann mansion was demolished after suffering further collapse due to brick theft. The buildings below were demolished for the new National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency in 2017. The City of St. Louis cut…
Return to the Farmhouse on Pleasantview Road
Update: Demolished sometime before August of 2019. I made it by the old farmhouse near my family’s farm that I’ve been photographing for the last couple of years, and as the summer passes by, so does time on the clapboards of the old house.? I’ve begun to spot more abandoned houses scattered around Central Illinois,…
Old United Railways Depot and Car Shop
Update: I revisited the old buildings again in July of 2017. My initial theory of contamination, in hindsight, is ridiculous. I am sure now it was left as a memorial of sorts. What’s with that strange, solitary, rusted column of steel sticking up from the undergrowth behind SLU Hospital, along 39th Street? I looked at…
The Continuing Legacy of Carondelet Coke
Carondelet Coke has been in the news again recently, and the legacy of this heavily polluted site continues to affect the city and the region. What exactly is coke, and what is it used for? Read an explanation here, at the World Coal Association’s website. Yes, they have a website. I saw the site years…