Walking west on Hebert, I realized I had never really looked at the houses down this stretch of street. The views on the gently rolling terrain can sometimes be wonderful, as we spot Most Holy Trinity off in the distance. There are more well-preserved Second Empire houses, many with their original slate Mansard roofs. And…
Tag: Modernism
St. Francis de Sales Parish School
I’ve often regarded Roman Catholic parishes as much more than simply a church, but rather campuses of multiple buildings, including but not limited to a rectory, convent, school and even other buildings. St. Francis De Sales originally had a building on the southeast corner of Sidney and Iowa that housed a musical corps. The parish…
First Baptist Church, St. John
Rapid growth along the St. Charles Rock Road in the years after World War II translated into concurrent expansion of religious institutions along the corridor. First Baptist Church of St. John found its new church buildings too small for its congregation in the matter of years as the number of congregants grew. The Post-Dispatch reported…
Former MacMurray College, Jacksonville, Illinois
The picturesque church looks like you’re standing in the middle of a Colonial era commons, and Red Coats could march into the middle of the swath of greensward any moment. But in reality, you’re looking at the Annie Merner Chapel, at the former MacMurray college, which closed back in May of 2020. It had opened…
John F. Kennedy High School, Demolished
Kennedy High School is no more. There are only long piles of rubble. The machines who did the deed are sitting around surveying their work, and other Caterpillar products are awaiting their turn to permanently alter the topography to allow for the construction of half a million dollar houses. I’ve seen it across the country,…
Oak Hill, The Old Russell-Parker Estate
The Russells and Parkers operated coal and clay mines in what is now the expansive Tower Grove South neighborhood in the Nineteenth Century. Their house, which was owned in turn by both families, but seems to have been built by William Russell, sat at 3405 Oak Hill Avenue and Fairview and Parker. The house sat…
Former John F. Kennedy Catholic High School, Under Demolition
Update: Completely demolished by March of 2022. My prediction that the old John F. Kennedy Catholic High School in Manchester would be sold to a developer for houses has come to pass. McBride Berra is demolishing it for Arbors at Celtic Meadows. It is an interesting phenomenon of smaller universities buying old high schools and…
Engineers Club of St. Louis
Here we go again! Another Mid-Century Modern “Masterpiece” is threatened with demolition, or at least in this case a thorough gutting that leaves the shell of the building, and a huge apartment building will rise in the swath of blacktop behind it. This section of Lindell is a freaking dead zone, by the way, and…
The Grant Medical Clinic
The Grant Medical Clinic is an interesting building just south of the Optimist International Building, which I featured in a post back in August of last year (Whoa–it was that long ago? Time sure flies by). Washington University Physicians make use of the building, which revolutionized doctors’ offices with a more residential feeling with couches…
Christ the King Chapel, Shrine of Our Lady of the Snows, Revisited
I decided after last week’s snow storm it was the perfect time to go back and visit the Shrine of Our Lady of the Snows, which I featured most recently back almost exactly a year ago. And just like last year, just as I left the house early in the morning, a light snow began…