The banks in downtown East St. Louis are still open. The clock might not work anymore, and the name has changed, but it’s still holding on.
Tag: East St. Louis
Majestic Theater Details, East St. Louis
Update: See a similar theater in St. Joseph. I never really realized it, but the Majestic Theater in East St. Louis is one of the most amazing buildings in the entire metropolitan area. I hope help comes before it is demolished. The first floor shop is still open.
Murphy Building, East St. Louis, Revisited
Update: The Murphy Building was torn down in May of 2015; almost none of the ornamental terracotta, including the two caryatids, was saved from the landfill. The poor Murphy Building, suffering now for decades, and constantly under threat of demolition. I actually thought it was doomed two years ago. But my, what an amazing, stunning…
Armour Meat Packing Plant Smokestack Deterioration
Update: Demolished by implosion in April 2016. There’s been some clear deterioration of the top of the southern smokestack at the Armour Meat Packing Plant. Compare this photo with this one, from several years ago. I guess it’s only a matter of time when the crumbling bricks accelerate in their dilapidation.
The Riverfront, 1967
A reader was kind enough to give me several photos of her family’s trip on the Huck Finn back in the late 1960’s. It’s fascinating to see that the riverfront was already by that time largely cleared of buildings, just as it is today. The traces of St. Louis once being a great river town…
Demolition, Murphy Building, Downtown East St. Louis
Update: This was only demolition of the back, later addition. I revisited the Murphy Building in July of 2014. It was finally torn down in May of 2015; almost none of the ornamental terracotta, including the two caryatids, was saved from the landfill. The long suffering Murphy Building, infamous for its severe deterioration on its…
Anonymous Building, East St. Louis
I came across this building, seemingly an old store, on Collinsville Avenue east of downtown. I have no idea what it once was, but it looks to be one of the older buildings in the city. While East St. Louis is famous for its beautiful early Twentieth Century architecture, the city dates to before the…
The Stockyards, Changing Forever
Update: The new Mississippi River Bridge is complete, the Stockyards have been cleared for redevelopment that has still been slow to develop, and many of the houses shown below have been demolished. I can’t fully express how dramatically the National Stockyards have changed since the first time I visited over four years ago. Onramps sprout…
Stately Homes, East St. Louis
By no means is the entire city of East St. Louis a wasteland, and in fact many streets still retain their original houses. They could easily be in Tower Grove South or any number of neighborhoods in St. Louis. Rather interestingly, these two houses with their distinctive turrets are the same design, but one has…
Ainad Temple, East St. Louis
Update: The Shriners have made a commitment to stay in downtown East St. Louis. See some details of the building that I took in the summer of 2019. Long known as one of the last surviving institutions from the “old” East St. Louis, the Ainad Temple is a fascinating mix of brick and Moorish Revival…