The slender Mayfair Hotel, now a member of the Magnolia chain, strikes a narrow profile in downtown St. Louis. But it’s a very beautiful building, with some similarities to the other hotels that popped up here in the Early Twentieth Century. I seem to remember that this hotel had the first rooftop pool, supposedly.
Tag: Hotels
Carousel Motel
Years ago, I asked some of my students who live in North St. Louis about that intriguing Modernist hotel on Kingshighway just north of Natural Bridge Avenue. In response, one of my students replied, “That’s not a hotel, that’s a motel; that place is so sleazy they charge by the minute, not by the hour.”
West From Castlewood
Many of the old lodges from the resort era at Castlewood still stand over on New Ballwin Road, but I’ve noticed an interesting trend recently. As can be seen below, in-fill housing, made to look like traditional architecture, has begun to pop up. Back over to Sherman Beach, the water was low again, just like…
Old Edison Brothers Warehouse
Constructed by J.C. Penney in 1928-9, then owned by Edison Brothers, this old warehouse is now a hotel whose names changes on a regular basis.
St. Clair Avenue, Revisited
Update: I went back in July of 2020. You can see the decades of the Twentieth Century pass by as you drive up St. Clair Avenue through East St. Louis out to Fairview Heights, where it changes its name to Lincoln Trail. I drove back on the road from Fairview Heights a couple of years…
Route 66 Bridge, Revisited
The old roadside inn is looking good down in the Eureka area near the Meramec River compared to four years ago. Sadly, the bridge was condemned, its road bed removed. If you have interest in Route 66, consider donating to repair and reopen this bridge.
Main Street, De Soto
The Arlington Hotel anchors the wide expanse of railroad tracks that cuts through the heart of De Soto. Depending on who you ask on the streets of De Soto, the hotel was built in the 1850s or 1860s in the Greek Revival. But wow, those railroad tracks. The railroad has operated a repair facility here…
The Coronado
The wall of buildings on Lindell west of Spring are the handiwork of Preston Bradshaw. The first one in the picture, and the first one built, is the Coronado, built as a residential hotel between 1923 and 1926. There is a clear line in the red brick of the lower section at right, and the…
Mark Twain Hotel
Built in 1907 by plans of Albert Groves, the Mark Twain used to be the Maryland and Baltimore hotels. It almost certainly has lost its original cornice. It contains some of the most sumptuous terracotta, including some now outdated swastikas. The bay windows, while present in other downtown buildings, are particularly noteworthy here.