Crossing North Market Street, we see the newly christened St. Josephine Bakhita Parish, which is the former Sts. Theresa and Bridget. Due to the closure of a number of other parishes, there was a consolidation of borders. A former convenience store has opened up with a new owners… Joseph Baker Wallpaper and Paint, from what…
Tag: Banks
History of Cass Bank, Part Two
Now we come to the Cass Avenue Bank location that has been in the news, which was built in 1927, showing how quickly the institution had grown in twenty-one years. A severe, late Beaux-Arts building, it served as the headquarters of Cass Bank until 1974. This was near the Carr Square and Old North neighborhoods,…
History of Cass Bank, Part One
Perhaps you’ve been watching the news and heard a lot of coverage of the old Cass Bank building being in the crosshairs of demolition, and then at the last second it had been been saved. I thought it would be helpful to readers to explain what is going on. Cass Bank is still in business…
Cafe Florentine and Other Sights, Downtown, Birmingham, Alabama
Much like St. Louis and its Woolworth Building in Grand Center, Birmingham also has a two story base that was designed with the intention of later having an upper office building added. The Florentine, which is not surprisingly in the Renaissance Revival Style, was built in 1925-27 according to designs by the architect, David O….
Courthouse Square, Perryville
We’ll start our tour of Perryville in the courthouse square, with the Perry County Courthouse, constructed in 1904. The architects were Caldwell and Drake of Columbus, Indiana and the building cost approximately $32,000. It is on the National Register. And of course there’s a statue of a Union soldier in the lawn out in front….
Downtown, Davenport, Iowa
Continuing and ending our end of the month look at Mississippi River towns north of St. Louis for the time being, we come to the Quad Cities, and first we will look at Davenport, Iowa. Of course, Davenport, and Rock Island, Illinois on the opposite bank (which we’ll look at in a few days) are…
Muscatine, Iowa, Part Two
Downtown Muscatine was really nice, with most of the storefronts occupied and many buildings looking like they had recently been renovated. As would be expected, there are a plethora of Italianate storefronts, as one often sees in cities along the river. The Laurel Building, below, was built in 1917 and was designed by William Hyland…
Avenue G, Part Two, Fort Madison, Iowa
We make it back down to Avenue G where we again see more Italianate storefronts lining the thoroughfare. And as we have seen before in places such as Macon, Missouri, a Modernist bank building has been inserted into the street wall. There are some more interesting buildings, such as this bank above and below. But…
Avenue G, Part One, Fort Madison, Iowa
As part of our continued series of looking at Iowa river towns north up the Mississippi River from St. Louis at the end of the month this summer, we next head to Fort Madison, crossing over a massive bridge combining both rail and road. Fort Madison’s street grid is laid out with numbered streets starting…
Main Street, Downtown, Keokuk, Iowa
Main Street in downtown Keokuk is also U.S. Highway 218, which is usually not the best arrangement as it brings heavy traffic that does not want to stop at local businesses, but still brings the negative effects of automobiles, particularly tractor trailers and their pollution. Nonetheless, Main Street is overall in good condition and has…