St. Ann’s Roman Catholic Church in Normandy along Natural Bridge Road dates to 1953 and is not the first building on the site. The parish dates back to 1854, when Ann Lucas Hunt donated land for the church. The current church was designed by Joseph Murphy, who along with Eugene Mackey, also designed Resurrection in…
Tag: Schools
Clinton Peabody, Yesteryears, Part One
As I began to research the business community in pre-Civil War St. Louis, the addresses of some of the most important factory owners often seemed to come up in the later footprint of Clinton-Peabody. Certainly the Cracker Castle is a well-known example, but there are many more. It turns out that streets such as St….
North of Downtown, Davenport, Iowa
Leaving the Hamburg neighborhood, we wandered up Brady Street, I think, and looked at the Cork Hill area, I think, and other neighborhoods north of downtown Davenport. First up on the list of major landmarks we spotted is Sacred Heart Roman Catholic Cathedral, built in 1891 according to designs by architect James Egan. Mass was…
Wells Avenue Between Academy Avenue and Union Boulevard
I’ll have to admit when I got home and actually looked at the photographs I had taken of this street, I was very disheartened. I have photographed the twin apartment buildings above twice, once back in May of 2012 (badly) and again in August of 2015. I also photographed these two just really beautiful twins…
Some Notable Buildings, Jefferson City
I also saw some other interesting building scattered around the city. This school, high up on a hill in the center of town, caught my attention. It is abandoned, unfortunately. With such a prominent location and great vistas, I can’t imagine that it wouldn’t be great for redevelopment. Nearby on another summit is the Hugh…
Des Peres City Hall, Former Lutheran Children’s Home
Please join me on July 24 at 6:30 at the Central Library in downtown St. Louis for a lecture about my new book. Please register here. Today, Des Peres City Hall sits in a verdant park, but originally its building and the surrounding grounds was the Lutheran Children’s or Orphans’ Home. The last of what…
After the Tornado: The Ville, Revisited
I traveled around The Ville some more and it has been devastated. Yes, there was already a fair amount of abandonment and vacant lots, but what was intact and in good condition was damaged badly. Sumner High School suffered extensive loss of its roof, as well as some windows, from what I understand. It was…
After the Tornado: Fountain Park
Update: The ruins of the church were later demolished. Next we head into Fountain Park, where there has probably been the most media attention. I hesitated in photographing the Centennial Christian Church due to the tragic death of Patricia Penelton, one of five people who perished during the tornado. The church is planning on demolishing…
After the Tornado: Academy Neighborhood
When I crossed Union Boulevard to look at the Academy neighborhood, which was struck with the full force of the tornado, things got deeply depressing. The neighborhood is bounded by Union on the west, Delmar on the south, MLK on the north and Kingshighway on the east. First of all, I had to detour because…
Residential Neighborhood West of Dowtown, Keokuk, Iowa
“The town has a population of fifteen thousand now, and is progressing with a healthy growth. It was night, and we could not see details, for which we were sorry, for Keokuk has the reputation of being a beautiful city. It was a pleasant one to live in long ago, and doubtless has advanced, not…