I mentioned Virginia Place yesterday, and there is actually a large number of houses left standing on the block between 29th and 33rd streets. There’s a central median, but unlike the two sides, there doesn’t seme to be any curb left. It is mowed, but there is minimal landscaping. Houses run the gamut from presumably…
Tag: East St. Louis
Tina and Ike Turner Haunts
I recently read Tina Turner’s autobiography, and I thought it would be interesting to see if any of the places in the book were still standing. To put it bluntly, most of the famous clubs where rock n’ roll began (yes, it began here in St. Louis, but our leaders are so bad at their…
East St. Louis Updates
I was in East St. Louis recently and thought I would look and see how things are doing. There’s some good news and some bad. The bad news is that continued disinvestment has led to infrastructure having to be condemned, as is the case of the 26th Street Bridge, a major conduit for traffic over…
Pilgrim Green Missionary Church, Former Holy Angels Roman Catholic Church, East St. Louis
I had passed by this unique and beautiful church numerous times just east of Jones Park in East St. Louis, and I finally got around to photographing it and figuring out its history. Its current owner is Pilgrim Green Missionary Church, and they’re thriving, recently building a new hall out the back to the south….
B&O Railroad Roundhouse, Cone Yard, Revisited
Oops! It turns out the old roundhouse in East St. Louis was demolished sometime in the last decade, and all that is left are the concrete foundations, and the rapidly filling pits where the locomotives once drove in to be serviced. The roundtable had already been filled in completely years ago. It turns out this…
Northern East St. Louis, Revisited
Update: All racist comments, especially ones left under fake names, will be deleted in this post. Start your own blog if you want to promote your white supremacist views. East St. Louis was always corrupt, even when it was majority white, full of industry and wealthy. Blaming African Americans for its current plight is bigotry,…
Further Demolition, Lansdowne Towers
I went back by the Lansdowne Towers the second weekend of November to see how the demolition of the three buildings were going. The two southernmost towers were completely annihilated, and the northernmost one, which you can see on the left above, was clearly vacant. I do not know if it is still being demolished….
Demolition, Lansdowne Towers
Update: See the first two towers completely demolished here. They’ve begun to tear down the Brenton Tower, one of four public housing apartment buildings part of the Lansdowne Towers, located in the northeastern portion of East St. Louis. I’d been by here before, almost exactly two years ago, and one time since then (though I…
Details, Ainad Temple
I love the Ainad Temple, right in the heart of East St. Louis. There had been rumors that they were going to close, but they instead made a commitment to stay in the city’s downtown. I’m glad, as it will still be here when the city is reborn. It is a beautiful building, filled with…
Under the Bridge Approaches, East St. Louis
Down under the towering eastern approaches of the Martin Luther King Bridge, there is B Street, and there are a couple of houses that are occupied (not shown). Who are they? I did not have time to stop and ask, but I know they must have a great story. This is what happens when you…