Crossing Natural Bridge Avenue, we head into an area of the city that has not gotten much media attention, but was hit just as hard as other neighborhoods to the south. Ashland Elementary, above, was seriously damaged, and from what I understand will be closed past the start of the new school year. In fact,…
Tag: Early Twentieth Century Eclectic
After the Tornado: Around the Ville and Greater Ville
Fountain Park, which has been in the news a bunch already, was crowded with disaster relief efforts so I continued on, not wanting to get in the way. I headed up North Taylor Avenue, taking a quick look at the Lewis Place neighborhood before heading into The Ville. I’ve looked at the building above before,…
After the Tornado: Union Boulevard
Heading north on Union Boulevard, we see the damage to Waterman Place; normally the house above and below are largely shielded from view but with the trees destroyed, they are exposed. Many of the windows on the Chesterfield, below, have been blown out; I have been told that throughout the area affected by the tornado,…
After the Tornado: Forest Park and Nearby
The western portion of Forest Park was hit hard, and while the major institutions were not damaged, thousands of trees were lost. At first glance, many trees looked like they had escaped damage from the tornado, but upon closer inspection, it becomes obvious that many trees lost limbs and foliage. North along Lindell Boulevard, where…
After the Tornado: Photographing Destruction
I grappled with whether I should take or post any photographs of the tornado damage that struck St. Louis on May 16, 2025, which a reader noted will now be indelibly linked with the anniversary of the founding of this website on the same day. Is it ethical to photograph destruction, and in particular people’s…
Russell Boulevard Between South Compton and Nebraska Avenues
I’ve looked at this stretch of houses before, back in March of 2015, but only cursorily, so I thought I would continue my examination of Russell Boulevard heading east of South Compton Avenue. It’s a part of Compton Heights, even if it’s not on Longfellow or Hawthorne boulevards, and they are more public than the…
Russell Boulevard Between Compton Hill Place and South Compton Avenue
I thought I’d look at some of the houses along the north side of Russell Boulevard just to the east of the reservoir in Compton Heights. The house above, by the way, used to have two or more floors. We’ve looked at the Magic Chef Mansion before, and the wall that was built along with…
Pine Lawn
Pine Lawn is one of the many small inner ring suburbs just outside the boundaries of the City of St. Louis along Natural Bridge Road and Jennings Station Road forms a north-south “spine,” so to speak. The name comes from the estate, one of many out this way, of Charles Clark, of which only the…
Gimblin Street Over to Halls Ferry Road, Baden, May 2025
I turned left onto Gimblin Avenue from Church Road and looked at the vacant lots that had appeared in place of the abandoned houses I had photographed back in February of 2018. There are more burned out houses, as well. But the cool apartment building below, which I also looked at in February of 2018,…
Church Road, Revisited May 2025
To my readers: I am safe from the tornado, but many others are not. Please keep them in your thoughts. In the future, when it is appropriate, I will survey the damage to the historic neighborhoods devastated in this tragic event. I found myself going back up Church Road in Baden again after I had…