I’ve looked at Washington Boulevard before west of North Jefferson Avenue, but I took another look a few weeks ago. Nothing has happened at the Jamison Memorial Church since the fire. Above is Central Baptist Church, an African American congregation which is over 180 years old, and I’ve always like its current Modernist home. This…
Tag: Gothic Revival
St. Paul Roman Catholic Cathedral, Birmingham, Alabama
Birmingham was founded in 1871, and the first Catholic church, a rustic affair, was founded in 1872, so while Alabama is famous for the Southern Baptist Church, Catholicism still has a presence. The elegant church of St. Paul became the cathedral of Birmingham in 1969, after having been a co-cathedral with Mobile since 1955. Mobile,…
Gate City, Birmingham, Alabama
Heading north towards the outermost regions of Birmingham, we now explore Gate City, whose name is perhaps a little obvious. There was a pass through Red Mountain, which perhaps you can extrapolate received its appellation from the abundance of iron ore running through it (remember, iron ore is one of the three components of steel…
North Up Blair Avenue, Hyde Park, May 2026, Part Three
Continuing north up Blair in Hyde Park, we see a Gingerbread house and then the styles go back to what we would expect to see in the neighborhood. Windsor Park was a former quarry, which I’ve talked about before in the past. This little church is still in great condition. But there’s a lot of…
North Up Blair Avenue, Old North, May 2026, Part One
It’s been awhile since I’ve gone north up Blair Avenue, so I thought I would take a look to see what’s been happening since the last time, which was March of 2024. It’s been my way of checking up on the inner ring neighborhoods of the Northside, and it is always interesting. I started further…
St. Dominic Roman Catholic Church and Cemetery, Breese
St. Dominic Roman Catholic Church is the massive first parish in Breese, Illinois. Founded in 1858, the current church is from 1867. It’s a massive church, expressed in the German Gothic Revival style with a central spire and two octagonal turrets flanking. The interior, which was closed when we visited, is most likely a typical…
South Seventh Boulevard Between Shenandoah and Geyer Avenues
Crossing Shenandoah Avenue and heading north, we see this house standing by itself. It’s obvious that the front facade has been relaid, and judging from the tagging, it’s been sitting like this for a while. But moving north, we see tow examples of houses where there has been successful relaying of brick and occupancy. These…
The Second SLU Medical School
The founding of the second Saint Louis University Medical School is quite the convoluted story, and if I make any errors, please let me know in the comments! It is the story of two earlier schools, the Beaumont Medical School and the Marion Sims Medical School and their eventual uniting under the SLU aegis. There…
St. John’s Evangelical and Reformed Church
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.
Third Baptist Church, Revisited
Third Baptist Church is an interesting situation, where the interior is much older than the exterior, which was renovated in 1950. The interior dates from 1885. But as can be seen in the apse, there is rich woodwork, stained dark contrasting with the stonework.