Far North Riverfront

The Northernmost Houses in St. Louis

The City of St. Louis, over a century ago, kept a little “tail” of St. Louis County that stretches way up north, encompassing the city’s all-important Bissell Point water intake plants. But the odd part: there are houses up this way as well, overlooking the river. Back from the bluffs, on the former grounds of…

Demolition, North Broadway at John Street

I guess I always just took this massive warehouse, with its large painted signs, for granted. But when I drove by this week, I realized it was not long for this world. Built in 1900 (I suspect the section at left was older), and demolished for a contract of $90,000, it now creates yet another…

Lookaway Drive

Who would have thought there was such a wonderful pocket of early Twentieth century houses a stone’s throw away from the Mississippi River in the far northern reaches of the city? I learned of the street from Noco STL, and had to check it out myself. Surrounded by run-down apartment buildings, these houses are still…

Roundhouse, Hall Street

I went and visited the roundhouse on North Hall Street; there is very little left, but there is clear evidence of such a structure existing up this way.

While the Near North Riverfront gets more attention because it’s easier to see from downtown, the Far North Riverfront holds some interesting surprises as well. Above, this very cool building anchors the Bissell Point Waterworks, or Waste Treatment Center, not sure which one. I like its curving lines. Unbeknownst to a lot of people, the…

Water Intakes, Chain of Rocks

I’m not sure if they’re still in use, and at one point two dykes coming out from the shores connected them to the shore, but the historic water intake towers at the Chain of Rocks are very cool. I took these photographs from the bridge. The first one is a Palladian, Renaissance Revival design, and…

Old Chain of Rocks Bridge

Update: I went back in April of 2016 to take more photographs. See earlier photographs from the new bridge from December of 2009 and also from a boat in the river in 2015. A historic photograph was added in February of 2021. The Chain of Rocks Bridge is amazing; arching across the Mississippi River in…

Last Remnants of a Neighborhood, North Riverfront

Update: Years after its destruction, I still think about this neighborhood, and I still wonder what it was. The houses were extremely old, and there has to be a story behind why they were here. Plat maps reveal it was a subdivision called Harlem, which took its name from a creek that flowed through the…

Chain of Rocks Bridge

Update: See photographs of the bridge from 2010, 2015 and 2016, as well as the two water intake towers from 2010.