I then cruised down Osceola Street, where I saw something surprising: an abandoned house. It is a rarity in what is other a very healthy neighborhood. It’s also a neat little house. Much of the blocks on Osceola are the sides of houses since they primarily face the north-south street, but we have some nice…
Tag: Warehouses
Crunden-Martin, Advanced State of Demolition
Crunden Martin, which was gutted and partially destroyed by a fire back in November of 2025, is now being demolished in earnest. Demolition had begun back in June. In fact, by the time you see these photographs, much more of the buildings will be gone. I suspect they didn’t save any of the iconic letters…
School Supply Warehouse
I made an interesting discovery near the Rock Church just off North Grand Boulevard regarding this building. Due to the size of the smokestack, I assumed this was a factory, but since at 1909, this building was a school supply warehouse for Saint Louis Public Schools. The fourth floor was labeled “bindery,” so I wonder…
Crunden Martin, Demolition Begins
Ever since the fire that largely destroyed the Crunden-Martin complex on Thanksgiving of 2025, the buildings have largely stood in ruins. But the demolition of the multi-block former manufacturing company is commencing. Millions of brick must make up the walls. Unfortunately, there probably won’t be a way to save the Crunden-Martin signs on the bridge…
Alabama Avenue Between Primm Street and Robert Avenue
I realized that I have looked at all of the main north-south streets in Carondelet with the exception of Alabama Avenue, so I went down to the southernmost block and proceeded north. The first part, leaving behind Primm Street, has light industrial with a series of warehouses and other buildings. Then there is some in-fill,…
Excel Bottling Company, Breese, Illinois
Found St. Louis arranged a tour for us of the Excel Bottling Co. in Breese, Illinois. It was quite the experience, and we had as our guide the owner of the company, Bill Meier. As a licensed bottler of Ski Soda, they actually still use a historic bottling line, which you can see below. However,…
Yet Another Fire on the Near North Riverfront
I’ve officially lost count of the number of times this remaining warehouse from the St. Louis Refrigeration and Cold Storage Company complex has caught fire. I think it’s at three. Here’s from the last time I documented a fire from January of 2017. As you can see, some nice new plywood, that has probably already…
Yet Another Fire in Chouteau’s Landing
There was another fire in Chouteau’s Landing in the 100 block of Lombard Street. It was a small building, and not nearly as consequential as the fire at Crunden-Martin, but still, it shows the continued threat historic buildings face during cold temperatures. I continued around the area, passing under the MacArthur Bridge. There’s the continued…
Rex-All Warehouse Glow Up
As I was driving down Kingshighway from Bellefontaine Cemetery to the former St. Mark’s, a blinding white object to the right caught my attention. The old Rex-All Warehouse, which I’ve looked at before back in June of 2011 and November of 2018 (fifth through seventh photos) has received a “glow up” as the kids say…
Crunden Martin Ruins, Revisited
Hey, office and flex space for lease! I revisited Crunden Martin to check up on the state of the buildings after the disastrous Black Friday fire. Yes, in case you were wondering, that sign is new. As I had appraised on Black Friday, the building that had already suffered a fire back in 2011 is…