There’s this bridge that vaults over Interstate 74 in East Peoria that’s impossible to take a photograph of because you’re on the highway, but I finally found a way to drive over it, and I was treated to a panoramic overlook of the city of Peoria (remember to click on the image above to see…
Tag: Warehouses
Southeast Carondelet, Early September 2026, Part One
I was trying to get a better view of the Italgrani grain elevator but didn’t have very good luck, as can be seen above. I did have better luck checking in some of my favorite streets in Carondelet that I had last looked at back in May of 2022. What is particularly interesting is that…
Gingham Girl Flour Mill, Interior
There’s a very cool public art exhibit going on around St. Louis called CounterPublic, which you can read about here. As part of that exhibit, we were recently able to see the interior of the old Gingham Girl grain elevator on Chouteau’s Landing. Amazingly, none of the grain chutes or other funnels had been removed,…
Osceola Street Between South Spring Street and 37th Street
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…
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…