Update: A devastating tornado ended up striking the afternoon this post was published. The Jack in the Box is now a Mexican restaurant named Antonio’s. I really didn’t have much planned for the eighteenth anniversary of this website/blog/whatever you want to call it, but then I thought of the bombed out Jack in the Box…
Tag: McKinley Heights
Sad Loss on South Jefferson
Update: Another building a block away on Jefferson Avenue, seen here, was heavily damaged by fire on December 14, 2025. It’s the same story as usual; a slumlord sits on a property for years in a desirable neighborhood where it could have easily sold to a rehabber but instead it goes up in flames and…
McKinley High School, Revisited Again
The light was shining on McKinley High School a couple of weekends ago, and I thought I would take some photos. I’ve looked at it before twice, back in June of 2014 and November of 2020. It’s such a great example of the Tudor Revival high schools that popped up designed by William Ittner in…
The Little Office Building, McKinley Heights
I have always been intrigued by this little building, sitting on a trapezoid of land at the northwest corner of Gravois and Victor. What is now a doctor’s office was originally the offices of attorney Paul J. Simon, who also served as a state representative in the 1970s. But there was a two-story building here…
Checking In on Southern McKinley Heights
I thought it would be interesting to check in on one of my favorite places in St. Louis, those narrow ancient streets of the old rural village at the northern end of the intersection of Jefferson and Gravois that is now the southern tip of McKinley Heights. I looked at Charless Street in June and…
End of Winter 2023 Odds and Ends
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…
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…