Founded in 1951, the massive Lutheran Church of the Atonement continues the trend of Modernism fulfilling the needs for new congregations as Florissant rapidly grew after World War II. The stained glass is simple, and overall there is the overall trend of simple vertical lines with limited ornament, sitting on a bend on North New…
Tag: Modernism
Two Modernist Churches in Florissant, Part One
For lack of a better word to describe them, A-frame churches can be spotted popping up around the St. Louis region after World War II. Two of the most interesting are in the Florissant area. The first one, St. Mark’s United Methodist Church on Graham Road, is perhaps the tallest and largest. While I can…
Halls Ferry Medical Arts Building
I give full credit to Toby Weiss of BELT St. Louis for introducing me to this unique building on New Halls Ferry Road. Perhaps representing a certain “attitude” of Modernism, Toby chronicled the medical building in two posts, first in July of 2008, and then again in September of 2010, as the owners did some…
Former North American Martyrs Roman Catholic Church, Florissant
There was a blossoming of Modernist church architecture in St. Louis after World War II, particularly in the Roman Catholic Archdiocese. As hundreds of thousands of people moved to the suburbs, some pre-existing parishes saw new churches built, while brand new parishes sprang up, as well. In the case of North American Martyrs, it was…
Jamestown Mall, Months Before the Start of Demolition, and Flo-Lin Corners
What better way to begin our look at Florissant than to take one last examination at the abandoned Jamestown Mall, where demolition will begin soon. Located east of the city limits of Florissant, in what is still semi-rural surroundings, the mall has failed while contemporary and historic shopping trends have continued or revived. I am…
West Water Street, Decorah, Iowa
While the Winneshiek County Courthouse is technically on Main Street in Decorah, otherwise there’s nothing main about it. The real main street of the city is one more block north, on West Water Street, which while running into the water to the west and east (remember, the river sweeps around in a big bend around…
Churches Around the Courthouse Square, Decorah, Iowa
The ensemble of buildings around the Winneshiek Courthouse in Decorah is extraordinary in that churches fill a full two dies of the square, and the remaining two are partially filled with civic buildings. Starting on the west side and working in a counter-clockwise direction, we see St Benedict’s Roman Catholic Church. As is common with…
Around Downtown, Galesburg, Illinois
Whiting Hall the Italianate style building above and below, was originally part of Knox College and functioned as a women’s seminary. The central core is from 1854-7, with the east wing added in 1885 and the west wing added in 1895, when it received its current name. It is now senior housing. The Knox County…
Central Park, Galesburg, Illinois
Look at the above postcard from the late Nineteenth Century, with a view down Main Street, which we looked at yesterday. An intact, intimate urban space with even a streetcar going by. It’s not like that anymore. As we walk down Main Street in Galesburg, crossing over Cherry Street, we see the parking lots and…
Main Street, Galesburg, Illinois
We’ll be looking at Galesburg, Illinois for the next six days, as part of my continued examination of the cities and towns within the sphere of St. Louis’s economy. Located along the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad, there is still a giant railyard going through the town in a northeast-southwest orientation southeast of downtown. Main…