I was in the vicinity of the now-demolished neighborhood of Carrollton, so I thought I would swing by and see who things looked. First off, I couldn’t believe I had missed this giant domed bowling alley the other times I had come by. Located northwest of Lambert International Airport off Natural Bridge Road, the subdivision’s…
Tag: North County
Two Events Coming Up Soon
I would like to invite my readers to two wonderful events coming up this weekend and the first weekend of October. Imagine yourself trapped between two hostile forces during the Civil War in Missouri. Caught in this huge conflict the enslaved Archer Alexander would earn his freedom, because of his brave act at the Peruque Creek bridge…
Lake Sherwood
Note: The streets around Lake Sherwood are private. I recently was invited to visit Lake Sherwood in Overland, which is an artificially created lake created by the Laughlin Family. Henry Laughlin had originally acquired the property that was the headwaters of the River des Peres–yes the same River des Peres that empties out into the…
Our Lady of the Presentation Roman Catholic Church
Updated with correct dates due to new information from the Archdiocesan archives. Our Lady of the Presentation Roman Catholic Church is located on Tudor Avenue at Brown Road, just southwest of St. Charles Rock Road in Overland. It was founded in 1915. The present church was consecrated in 1948. It’s a classic example of the…
Former Corpus Christi Roman Catholic Church, Early June 2022
I first visited the former Corpus Christi Roman Catholic Church in Jennings in April of 2012, and at the time it was still occupied as a seniors’ center. In fact, it has become one of my most popular posts. When I went back in December of 2016, things seemed to have been looking up, with…
A Tour of the Sites Mentioned in the Federal Indictment
Update: As of August 26, 2022, all three former aldermen plead guilty to the allegations made by federal prosecutors and have been sentenced by a judge. The text of the following post has been updated to reflect the changes from allegations at the time of the original writing to guilty pleas. By now I’m sure…
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…
Homer G. Phillips Grave, St. Peter’s Cemetery
I was recently giving a talk about the importance of African American lawyer and civil rights activist Homer G. Phillips, and it dawned on me that I didn’t know where he was buried. I’ve looked at the hospital that he was so instrumental in getting built before. I turns out he’s buried with his wife,…
Concrete Block Buildings on the Rock Road
Historically known as the “Block House,” this roadhouse at 8124 St. Charles Rock Road has long been a tavern or roadhouse on the main route between St. Louis and St. Charles. And boy, judging from old newspaper articles, it long had a history of suspended liquor licenses back in the day (disclaimer: in no way…
Suspicious Fires Week: The Old Bowling Ball Factory, Jennings
“Fire at an old bowling ball factory on Xograph Avenue in Jennings?” I knew when I heard about this strange occurrence, and how the St. Louis Fire Department had to join their colleagues in the County to help extinguish the flames on Thursday (which later reignited on Friday), I had to go check out this…