The old Soulard Branch of the St. Louis Public Library has had several uses over the last decade besides the commercial space facing 7th Boulevard. There was “The Library” and then “The Archives.” They’re both gone. Below, in McKinley Heights, I still can’t believe that Second Empire house below is sitting vacant; the property values…
Tag: McKinley Heights
Fifteenth Anniversary of Saint Louis Patina
I started this website fifteen years ago today, and we’ve come a long ways since then. Three reboots, two crashes, and hopefully now it looks better than ever due to the hard work of around twenty WordPress technicians back in January and February of this year. Thankfully, there are still plenty of new things to…
Geyer Avenue Between Missouri Avenue and Eighteenth Street, North Side
Geyer Avenue through McKinley Heights is an interesting street, as it was platted early, but as the subdivisions on the south side of Lafayette Square were built, it found itself getting turned into the backside of that more prominent neighborhood. I’ve looked at the neighbors of the house above before, facing Missouri Avenue, but I’ve…
Charless Street Between Indiana Avenue and Beauty Alley
Charless Avenue and its alley are perhaps two of the most isolated but fascinating lanes in St. Louis, with large trees obscuring old Greek Revival houses, half flounders and mysterious ruins. There is this lot, with a low stone wall that I strongly suspect are foundation walls, with the outline of a roof on the…
Gaine Street Between Indiana Avenue and DeVolsey Street
Forgive me for constantly returning to the narrow lanes of McKinley Heights just to the northeast of the intersection of Jefferson and Gravois, but the area dates back to before the Civil War, and I found out some new information about it for my recent article for St. Louis Magazine. The houses date easily to…
Shenandoah Avenue Between Jefferson and Missouri Avenues
Shenandoah Avenue through McKinley Heights marks a transition from very old houses in the DeVolsey Addition on the south side of the street, to the late suburban buildings of the late Nineteenth Century. First we head east starting just east of South Jefferson, looking at the north side of the street. There’s a wide variety…
Indiana Avenue Between Ann and Shenandoah Avenues
Indiana Avenue south of Ann is a fascinating mix of houses; up at the north end of the street are houses typical of much of the rest of McKinley Heights–built in the early Twentieth Century. But then, and this picture below illustrates it, the houses jump back several decades, and the Italianate style appears on…
Ann Avenue Between Jefferson and McNair Avenues
Ann Street is another one of those quiet streets lined with good solid housing stock, with little traffic and stately street trees. I’ve actually looked at these houses above before, back in 2013. The apartments buildings are more elaborate than we’ll see later on in the early Twentieth Century; this was a middle class neighborhood…
Russell Boulevard Between McNair and Missouri Avenues
Moving west of McNair, the houses become more elaborate, with greater ornament and finishes. Even the four-family flats have slate roofs and terracotta ornament that make them fit in stylistically with the larger single family houses next door. Some of the single family houses are very elaborate, with rich brown brick and terracotta elements, such…
Russell Boulevard Between Mississippi and McNair Avenues
Crossing over Mississippi Avenue, there is first a corner store that like many in the city, has been converted into a residence due to the dramatically smaller demand for retail at the neighborhood level. There is more architectural variety, with different colored brick used for ornamentation. And terracotta is used to great effect in place…