A tree fell in the forest and I wasn’t around to hear it, so to speak. As a couple of my readers know, I lived in Baltimore, Maryland, from 2004 to 2005 in the Hampden neighborhood, a former mill town north of downtown along the Jones Falls. One of the most prominent landmarks in the…
Tag: Historic Buildings
Old Cervantes Convention Center
So I didn’t know this, but America’s Center is actually four distinct entities, with the old Cervantes Convention Center being one component. Originally opened in 1977 on Convention Plaza (ever wondered why there was a street named that nowhere near the entrance?), Cervantes took up much of the old Columbia Square neighborhood. Designed by HOK,…
Krug Park and Two Cemeteries, St. Joseph
One of the focal points of St. Joseph is Krug Park, which is a fairly rugged plot of land on the northern side of the city. There is a system of parkways that connects much of the city (and is difficult to photograph) and they sweep around St. Joseph connecting parks such as Krug. In…
Civic Buildings, St. Joseph
The Buchanan County Courthouse in downtown St. Joseph is perhaps one of the most public impressive buildings I’ve seen in America. Constructed in 1873 and still largely identical in appearance other than its cupola (which now looks similar to the one in Lancaster, Wisconsin). Its sheer size, particularly in 1873 and second only to the…
Downtown St. Joseph
Downtown St. Joseph is quite nice, with minimal amount of land turned over to pointless parking lots. There are many buildings being renovated, and there are many interesting businesses. There is this huge mural on the side of a wall where there is a parking lot. If there is cause for concern is that there…
The Pony Express and Patee House, St. Joseph
Moving up into the hills of St. Joseph, we encounter the Patee House Hotel (pronounced “Pay-tea,” no accent on the first e), which played a critical role as the offices for the Pony Express and is now an eclectic and fun museum. Heavily influenced by an early Italianate style, the most stylish hotel in St….
From the Vault: Manchester
Manchester is one of the oldest settlements in the St. Louis region, with its roots going back to the early Nineteenth Century. Manchester Road has long been a major artery not just through St. Louis County but the City as well, and was even known as Market Street Road for a portion of its history….
Renaissance Architecture, Part Two
Meanwhile, in Urbino, the Della Rovere family was laying the groundwork for the High Renaissance when their son Giuliano became Pope Julius II, bringing along the architect Donato Bramante and painter Raphael with him to Rome. Their ducal palace in Urbino, which I’ve looked at before, was a center of Humanist learning, focusing on ancient…
Renaissance Architecture, Part One
It’s come to my attention that there is not a strong grasp of what Renaissance architecture really is, judging by all the flippant labeling of many buildings around America as “Renaissance Revival.” So what exactly is Renaissance architecture in the context of Italian history (note there is also French, German, etc. variants, as well)? Let’s…
Lemp Malt Kiln Update
There was a partial collapse of the upper floors of the Lemp Brewery malt kiln recently, which as I wrote at St. Louis Magazine, was constructed in the 1880s. I believe it further proves the point of the owner, Shashi Palamand, and myself that the right course of action is to deconstruct these upper stories…