We’re going to swing back through Alton for a few days. Like Hannibal, Quincy or even Cairo, and a bunch of other towns, I can’t help but imagine that except for a few twists of fate, Alton could have been the center of a metropolitan area of two million people, or at least maybe a…
Tag: Restaurants
Vine Street Over to Race Street, Over the Rhine, Cincinnati
“Lord, on this day of thanksgiving, we thank you for our loved ones, family and friends. We also thank you, oh Lord, that Chris has almost run out of photos from his trip back in August.” Heading down the hill from Clifton, passing through some other neighborhoods, I reached what I call “upper” Vine Street…
Clifton, Cincinnati
Up north, the Clifton neighborhood was an independent town dating to the 1850s, but street car lines, which made the arduous climb up the steep hills feasible, transformed the area in the 1890s. Much of the housing dates to the first years of the Twentieth Century, however, and filled in what had originally been the…
Other Fall Updates, Fires, Demolitions, Etc.
It finally happened, the Mullanphy Emigrant Home, which I last looked at back in June of this year, caught on fire and burned to the ground on the night of September 14th. There is certainly no grand conspiracy, but simply the fact that overnight lows reached 50 degrees, and a squatter’s fire probably spread out…
Stop Me Before I Paint Again!
Disclaimer: This post is not an attack at homeowners, who due to economic hardship have painted their house, or who inherited a painted brick house. St. Louis Patina legal disclaimer: In no way is St. Louis Patina accusing or insinuating that the current owner of the building depicted in the above and below photos is…
Indian Village, Detroit
Cruising by Mr. Fish on my to Grosse Pointe on the East Vernon Highway, I stumbled onto a mirage, a neighborhood of perfectly preserved houses along several long blocks with stately trees known as Indian Village due to several, but not all, of its streets being named after Native American nations. Indian Village is pretty…
North Brush Park and Eastern Market, Detroit
We head back south on Woodward Avenue to the 1888 Frank J. Hecker House, which sits on the northeast corner of East Ferry Street. Hecker was a partner of Charles Lang Freer, and together they made a fortune in their Peninsular Railroad Car Company. The house is based off Chenonceaux, which I visited last year….
Civic and Retail Monuments, Chicago
I was always intrigued how for decades, the Cook County Building/Chicago City Hall stared at the Marshall Fields Department Store across the Daley Plaza and Block 37. Then, several years ago, Block 37 was redeveloped, Marshall Field’s became a Macy’s, and that grand urban vista was blocked and altered, most likely forever. While it looks…
West Water Street, Decorah, Iowa
While the Winneshiek County Courthouse is technically on Main Street in Decorah, otherwise there’s nothing main about it. The real main street of the city is one more block north, on West Water Street, which while running into the water to the west and east (remember, the river sweeps around in a big bend around…
Commercial Street, North Side, Springfield
You can read about some of the history of the Commercial Street Historic District here, at the website for the area. This is an old fire station. I think these buildings below could be spotted in the historic photograph at the top of this post. There seems to be more empty renovated storefronts on this…