Hodiamont Avenue, Wells-Goodfellow, Revisited

Posts at this website are one of two things: exploring new places, or revisiting somewhere to see how it has changed for better or worse. I decided to explore Hodiamont Avenue in Wells-Goodfellow, which I had first examined closely back in March of 2017. Foliage is doing well, as can be seen above. I’ve always…

Dodier Street Between North Garrison Avenue and North Grand Boulevard

Let’s look at these houses along Dodier Street more closely. It turns out that some, such as the one above, are actually two family buildings, and quite large ones at that. Single and two family houses are mixed together, without any stigma of multi-family living existing. I’ve been told that judges and doctors often lived…

Dodier Street Between Glasgow and North Garrison Avenues

I might have mentioned this before, but if you ever wonder why there are a bunch of houses that are in way better shape and a couple of decades older in the blocks to the northeast of the intersection of North Grand Boulevard and St. Louis Avenue, I can explain. In 1893, Julius Pitzman was…

Knapp, North Nineteenth, Helen and Benton Streets, St. Louis Place

I was wandering around St. Louis Place when I caught these survivors on one block stretches in between Mullanphy/Howard streets and Madison Avenue. The two buildings above and below are on Knapp Street. Below are the two survivors left on North Nineteenth. Helene Street has much more left, including a bunch of wonderful Second Empire…

North Taylor Avenue Between Margaretta and Kossuth Avenues

North Taylor Avenue is a long street, and it serves as a secondary artery for much of the North Side. So it’s incredibly annoying when all of the sudden at Natural Bridge Avenue, it is one way to the south. I went and detoured around the one way streets and before I knew it, I…

Obear Avenue Between Kossuth and Lee Avenues

I came across this short block of Obear Avenue in the Fairgrounds neighborhood. It’s a good example of a street that has been battered by abandonment and demolition. But there are several houses left standing that are occupied.

Progress in LaSalle Park

I have some good news to report about the Second Empire corner storefront at 1000 Morrison Avenue in the LaSalle Park neighborhood which I looked at in June of 2019. Due to the efforts of Landmarks Association of St. Louis and Legal Services of Eastern Missouri, control of the building has been wrested away from…

Northeast Adams Street, Northeast Peoria, Late June 2026

The primaries for the 2026 midterm elections are coming up, so it’s time to see how Peoria is doing, and in particular, I like to look at Northeast Peoria. I drove up Northeast Adams Street, which is one-way to the northeast through much of downtown and northeast of the central business district, paired with Northeast…

Grafton, Jersey County, Illinois

Founded in 1832, Grafton is the oldest town in Jersey County. There were once large numbers of limestone quarries in the area very early on in the town’s history, and it reflects in the building materials of Grafton. Above is the Slaten LaMarsh House, dating from 1840 and the home of the first mayor of…