First of all, there’s great news for the old Elms Restaurant in El Paso, Illinois. I spotted two people working on the roof, so it seems its long-awaited rehabilitation has begun. I first looked at the historic house and restaurant back in July of 2012 and then again in December of 2019. But I had…
Tag: Historic Sites
Elvis Presley Birthplace, Tupelo, Mississippi
On my way back to St. Louis from Birmingham, I passed through Tupelo, Mississippi, the birthplace of Elvis Presley. The house is now a museum. Tupelo is a beautiful town that has successfully parlayed its major tourist attraction into a boon for the local economy. Instead of massive parking lots, the downtown has embraced new-urbanism,…
Sixteenth Street Baptist Church, Birmingham, Alabama
Our final stop in Birmingham was the 16th Street Baptist Church, which is still in operation just outside of downtown. This was the site of the horrific bombing that killed four girls in 1963, which you can read about here. Here is the location on the side of the church where it happened, below. Across…
Kaskaskia, West Side of the Mississippi
We visited Illinois recently without having to cross the Mississippi River. Yes, it’s possible, in what of the stranger parts of the greater St. Louis region south down Interstate 55. Back in November of 2010, we saw the remnants of the colonial town of Kaskaskia, that once sat along the banks of the Kaskaskia River,…
Interior, St. Mary’s of the Barrens, Perryville
The interior of St. Mary of the Barrens can easily rank as one of the most beautiful church interiors in the United States, and I’ve seen a lot of churches in my life. If you don’t remember my post on Il Gesù from back in November, go back and read it, and then come back…
St. Mary’s of the Barrens, Perryville
St. Mary’s of the Barrens takes its name from the prairie early settlers could not plow; instead, they turned to the loamy soil of the bottomlands along the river to farm. Established in 1818, the church also served alongside the oldest seminary west of the Mississippi. The Vincentians have long been associated with the church…
The Streets Around Downtown, Perryville
Around the courthouse square in Perryville are an assortment of brick houses, which I suspect are from around the time of the Civil War or earlier. The houses are simple, with gable roofs and four bays wide facing the street. I suspect many were built by German immigrants. A highlight is the Faherty House, which…
Perryville, Perry County, Missouri
We visited the town of Perryville in Perry County last weekend to check out the area and in particular the Shrine at St. Mary of the Barrens, which we’ll look at later this week. It’s an interesting and extremely old part of Missouri, with origins dating back to 1820, right around the founding of the…
Meramec Highlands, Revisited
The Meramec Highlands Hotel must have been a sight to behold. Sitting high up on the bluffs, just to the east of the eponymous train tunnel, it was a short ride out from the city on the St. Louis and San Francisco (Frisco) Railroad. Guests could stay at the hotel, as well as the cottages…
Meramec Highlands Tunnel
Nestled behind the backyards of a subdivision is a surprise. Near the West and East Barrett Tunnels is a third tunnel, the Meramec Highlands Tunnel, high up on a bluff overlooking the Meramec River Valley. It was constructed in 1883 by the St. Louis-San Francisco Railroad. Like the other two, it was replaced just to…