Fourth Baptist, Dangerous State of Demolition

Update: See the area around the church in August of 2018. Hopefully, due to all of the complaints, by the time you read this the church will either be properly secured from children entering, or it will be demolished completely. Its state on Saturday is unacceptable.

Fourth Baptist, Days Numbered, Winter 2016

Update, February 17, 2016: In what is easily the earliest update I have ever posted, the church was completely demolished this week. Poor Fourth Baptist is now under demolition, with the focus primarily on the older portions of the complex: the row house on Sullivan, and the old sanctuary to the north of the new…

Looking Through the Windows, Fourth Baptist

Update: Demolished in February of 2016. The interior of Fourth Baptist is destroyed, and in much worse shape than right after the fire. I shot these photographs by sticking my camera through windows and taking pictures blindly. What a shame.

Fourth Baptist, Weeks Away from Demolition

I’m starting to forget ever seeing Fourth Baptist before the fire in 2008. I know I saw it, walked by it, took pictures, but now I can’t seem to find them. It’s being torn down now, after sitting in this state of increasingly precarious ruin for closing in on a decade. ?? Update: Demolished in…

Sad State of Buildings in North St. Louis

Update: The house is still standing in a ruined state as of December of 2019. I decided to check up on some of the victims of brick theft in several north side neighborhoods. Houses that I photographed earlier this year or even last year cling to their existence, as battered as they are. Old North…

Checking In on Old North St. Louis

Update: The church on the left, Fourth Baptist, was demolished in 2016. I took a walk around Old North St. Louis a couple of weeks ago with a friend, and I was pleased to see how well much of the rehabbing has held up in the last several years. Sadly, though, some buildings remain in…

Christmas at Fourth Baptist

Update: Demolished in early 2016. Regardless of your religious views, you have to admit that it’s a shame that the tradition of celebrating Christmas at Fourth Baptist Church came to an end in 2008. For another year since the devastating fire, there will be no Christmas service at the church. Will Christmas ever be celebrated…

Fourth Baptist, Still in Ruins

Update: Demolished in February of 2016. Over a year later, after fire wracked the semi-abandoned Fourth Baptist Church in Old North St. Louis, little has changed.