The house I first documented back in September 2014 was sadly destroyed by fire on October 22. Shockingly, when we went by to examine the ruins, there was nothing left but a pile of rubble. Investigations of Sanborn Fire Insurance maps revealed the house, which was extremely old, perhaps the 1860s but definitely at least…
Tag: Midtown
Sheldon Memorial
The Sheldon Memorial was built in 1912 for the Ethical Society according to designs of the architect Louis Clemens Spiering. Spiering is actually a very interesting figure, having participated in the design of the 1904 World’s Fair, as well as being a descendant of the famous German Marxist Karl Ludwig Bernays. St. Louis, as pretty…
Ruins in the Undergrowth
“Hey, I wonder how that one house is doing,” I thought to myself two Saturdays ago. I had checked in on a house I first found back in June of 2022 in April of 2024 and had discovered it had collapsed badly. At first, when I drove up the building, I thought it was completely…
Locust Street Between Huntley and North Jefferson Avenues
Moving east of T.E. Huntley Avenue, the former Ewing Avenue, we see some demolished Italianate rowhouses with late Queen Anne front porches. But what is amazing is the sheer size of the mansions that once lined this section of Locust, such as the ones below. The Phyllis Wheatley Branch of the YWCA is a historic…
Locust Street Between Cardinal and Huntley Avenues
Moving east, there are more businesses that replaced houses. The photo above is perhaps the southeast corner, but I can’t be sure. The house in the background is gone for certain. The Fountain on Locust has become a famous restaurant in the amazing Spanish Revival building below. While this building below was marked for demolition,…
Locust Street Between Former North Channing and Cardinal Avenues
Back in September, we looked at Washington Boulevard in Midtown, and its transformation in the early Twentieth Century from a tony residential neighborhood into a commercial district. One block to the south is Locust Street, which like Washington, stretches from downtown where it ends at Theresa Avenue (though Washington continues, of course). Locust, seen above…
New Masonic Temple, Redeveloped
I never thought I’d see it, but the New Masonic Temple on Lindell has been successfully redeveloped into apartments, known as the B on Lindell. Not surprisingly, due to its massive size, its interior had never been completed, so the recent renovation was probably working with blank space in much of the building. It’s still…
Washington Boulevard Between Garrison Avenue and Beaumont Street
Moving past this building above which has a bit of some panache, we reach the Grand Wig House, 2911, which is a bit of an institution in St. Louis. It was a cork insulation company at one point, as well as a sausage shop. Interestingly, before it was a commercial concern, a house on the…
Washington Boulevard Between North Compton and Garrison Avenues
Stretching out to the west of Jefferson Avenue was the massive Daniel D. Page Addition, which encompassed thousands of parcels, largely platted between 1858 and 1871. Page was the second mayor of St. Louis and he also was heavily involved in real estate. A substantial portion of what we now call Midtown was once owned…
New Target Opens
The new Target is open! I’m not complaining; there is a dearth of shopping east of Grand and it is much needed. But make sure you check your receipt for the added taxes you’re subsidizing to pay for this place… Plenty of bollards to prevent people from crashing through the front of the store–good thinking…