We spotted this Mid-Century Modern church on our way out of Belleville, and stopped to take a closer look. Unfortunately, it was closed and locked, so we could not explore the interior. While the parish dates to 1926, this current building dates to 1967 and you can see photos of the interior at this link….
Tag: Illinois
West C Street To North 10th Street Via Voss Place, Belleville
We now turn onto West C Street in Belleville, and discover a building whose originally purpose remains unknown to me. Was it a Turnverein or some other German social organization? I don’t know, but perhaps a reader does. We next come up to a short private street, Voss Place, which betrays its obvious Teutonic origins…
West D Street From North 11th Street to West C Street Via North 8th Street, Belleville
Continuing along in our walk through northwest Belleville near the old Stag Brewery, we see our first of what I would consider a true Cape Cod, the iconic building style that has its roots going back centuries in America and Europe. It is sort of the standard “house” in Western Civilization. But we see more…
North 11th Street Between West C and West D Streets, Belleville
The street grid shifts by forty-five degrees and continues on as we look a Belleville. There is this large store front that has been filled in with just a door that looks like it’s straight off the shelf from a big box hardware store. There are more of the three bay wide side gable workers’…
North 11th Street Between West Main and West A Streets, Belleville
This is where it gets really interesting, and in my opinion what makes Belleville one of the most fascinating cities in the St. Louis region. We started walking up North 11th Street back into the neighborhoods which are actually quite close to the location of the now demolished Stag Brewery, where the streets are all…
West Main Street Between 14th and 10th Streets, Belleville
Continuing down West Main Street, which locals call the longest of its name in the world (it is admittedly a very long street), we cross over 14th Street in Belleville. There are some very old houses, such as the one above, and also some signs of life in the presence of a few restaurants that…
West Main Street Between 21st and 14th Streets, Belleville
We picked up West Main Street in Belleville just east of the old Belleville West Township High School and headed southeast for awhile. While it’s still a little residential, it quickly becomes strictly commercial after a block or two, and demonstrates how the city was a bustling center of industry in the Nineteenth Century. Duplexes…
Eckert’s
You might be surprised that in forty years since first arriving in St. Louis, I had never been to Eckert’s, the famous orchard which interestingly lies partially within the city limits of Belleville. Not surprisingly, we were immediately interested in the large farm house in the Italianate style, which sits high up on a hill…
Family Farm, Mid March 2026
We made our first trip up to the family farm and things were looking good. While it was overcast at first, the sun came out finally. There was a bull in the barn, but other than him there were no other cattle around. The power lines a mile or so away captured my attention, as…
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,…