St. John’s is perhaps unique among the churches we looked at in that it has a choir loft above the high altar, alluding to the importance of music in the congregation. The organ is also above the choir, as well. I particularly liked the packed house in the photograph below.
Tag: Fairgrounds
After the Tornado: Fairgrounds
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,…
Bob Reuter’s Boyhood Home, Abandoned
I was scanning around on Google Satellite View and happened to go over Bob Reuter’s boyhood home on Bailey Avenue just east of Fairground Park. Even from the air, it was looking awfully “lush,” so to speak, which was a change from the time I went by back in August of 2013, shortly after my…
South Down North Grand Boulevard, Sunset
I was coming back from St. Charles and I needed to get to Grand Center, so Grand Boulevard was the logical route to take. I snapped some photos on the way down the grand thoroughfare. Above, the old Second German Presbyterian Church, which I photographed back in February of 2019, is still standing. One of…
Economy Inn Motel, Shuttered
I was intrigued by the recent closure of St. Louis’s version of the Ritz Hotel on North Grand Boulevard. Deed research revealed that the Jubilee Church, just across the street from this five star hotel, recently purchased the motel, no doubt to clean up this section of North Grand. Kudos to the church for implementing…
Lee Avenue Between North Newstead and Warne Avenues
I don’t know what it is, but as soon as you cross over North Newstead Avenue into the Fairgrounds neighborhood, the trail drops out from underneath you. The housing stock is older, and that definitely plays a part. But what can I say when I cover a mile and 90% of all I see are…
Memorial Baptist Church, Former Independent Evangelical Congregational Church
This church has an interesting history, having first been the home of a German Evangelical Lutheran congregation that had split off from Holy Ghost, led by the famous Pastor William Picker. His cemetery down on Gravoiss, which was first located at the present site of Roosevelt High School, is now owned by the City of…
Fair Avenue, West Side of Fairgrounds Park
The west side of Fairground Park once held the leafy estates of Italianate and Second Empire country homes, but as the city expanded, and the park itself pushed its boundaries out to what is now Fair Avenue, apartment buildings, churches and smaller houses of streetcar suburbs. Most of the houses are still in great shape,…
Around Rosalie Street and Carter Avenue
At this intersection, Rosalie Street and Carter Avenue begin to diverge, creating at first what are a bunch of triangular and then trapezoidal blocks. Builders didn’t seem to have any problem with that, filling them with urban houses and apartment buildings. The first building was converted into a church, in what looks to be the…
Warne Avenue Between Green Lea Place and West Florissant Avenue
While walking along Warne Avenue, I took a closer look at the ornate bowling alley building on the northwest side of the street just to the southwest of West Florissant Avenue. I had photographed its facade back in September of 2017 (last photo), and it is still vacant. It is interesting to see how commercial…