Other Fall Updates, Fires, Demolitions, Etc.

It finally happened, the Mullanphy Emigrant Home, which I last looked at back in June of this year, caught on fire and burned to the ground on the night of September 14th. There is certainly no grand conspiracy, but simply the fact that overnight lows reached 50 degrees, and a squatter’s fire probably spread out…

Coming Soon: Nothing! North 13th Street

I’d heard about the impending doom of this building for years, and it’s finally happening now. I realized I never quite captured it very well, but you can see its front façade in this post from June of 2019 (last photo). I’ve long been worried about this end of Old North; this weed-choked lot, I…

Mullanphy Emigrant Home, June 2023

Update: Destroyed by fire on the night of September 14, 2023. I don’t know, has the Mullanphy Emigrant Home gotten worse since I photographed it back in November of 2021. I know one thing: it’s definitely not getting better. This whole southern area of Old North has really concerned me; it’s not getting any investment…

German Singing Society, Destroyed by Fire

On the same tragic night St. Louis lost Bob Kramer, the city also saw the destruction of the Old North Sängerbund, a German singing society located at the southwest corner of North 14th and Howard streets. Originally built as a church, and ending its life as a church known as the New Jerusalem Church of…

Northside Regeneration and the Future of North St. Louis

Update: There’s some great news to report on these two houses. For once this is not land speculation but rather the Sisters at Alpha Kappa Alpha rebuilding a founder’s home as part of what will be a museum and community center. Heading east on St. Louis Avenue just east of Garrison, I spotted a strange…

Old North, Revisited Winter 2022, 1213 Monroe Street

I was drawn back to this house that I had photographed extensively back in January of 2014 and August of 2018 (last two photos). It would cost a fortune to stabilize this house considering just how far gone it has become, spilling spalled bricks all over the front lawn now for several years. But yet…