The Mallinckrodt Residences

As the Mallinckrodt family’s fortunes grew, so did their houses. Emil’s farm house wasn’t too shabby, and seems to have survived into the Twentieth Century. A Greek Revival center hall house, it acquired a Queen Anne style front porch in the late Nineteenth Century. It was demolished at some point, I estimate, in the early…

After the Tornado: DeBaliviere Place

Following the path of the tornado east/northeast, we reach the DeBaliviere Place neighborhood, bounded by Forest Park on the south, DeBaliviere Avenue on the west, Delmar Boulevard on the north and Union Boulevard on the east (where we’ve already seen damage). Damage from the tornado is similar to that in Skinker-DeBalivere, with a large numbers…

After the Tornado: Skinker-DeBaliviere

The Skinker-DeBaliviere neighborhood, which is bounded by Forest Park on the south, the city limits on the west, Delmar Boulevard on the north and DeBaliviere Avenue on the east, also saw damage from the tornado. The tornado and high winds primarily struck the southeast corner of the neighborhood, and the wreckage ranged from the collapse…

After the Tornado: Wydown Boulevard, Clayton

I had just looked at this stretch of Wydown Boulevard back in January of 2024 in Clayton in between Big Bend and Skinker boulevards, and it has now been transformed due to the tornado of May 16. The trees and windows of the houses along here have been savaged. There are also signs of damage…

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…

Wydown Boulevard Between Big Bend and Skinker Boulevards

I’ve looked at the various private streets west of Big Bend before (here’s a cool map of Forest Ridge and Brentmoor Park) in Clayton, but now let’s head east until Wydown Boulevard terminates in the City of St. Louis. Laid out in 1909, the subdivision takes up land that was once the western side of…

Parkview, Again

I’ve looked at the entrances of Parkview twice before, once back in October of 2012, and then again in May of 2018. It straddles the City-University City boundary, as I think many people realize, and I suppose back when it was laid out by Julius Pitzman in 1905, it really didn’t matter; St. Louis was…

Private Traffic Signals

I recently became fascinated with the phenomenon of “private” traffic signals, which are electric traffic control lights which serve only one user at a busy or dangerous intersection. The first one is where West Pine Boulevard sweeps around and terminates at Lindell Boulevard after coming out of Forest Park. The traffic light usually only serves…