I had known for awhile that Richard Pryor was from Peoria, but I had always assumed it was one of those situations where he was born there and had moved away when he was a small child. That is far from the case; his childhood is inextricably linked to his upbringing in the city. Weirdly,…
Tag: Parking Lots
Washington Tabernacle Congregation and the Corner of North Compton Avenue and Washington Boulevard
Washington Tabernacle Baptist Church has called this building home since 1926, and survived a destructive fire in 1945, bringing the building back to life in 1948. It was previously a Presbyterian church. The church is one of many that gave the area the nickname Piety Hill. Built St. Louis has much better pictures including ones…
Revisiting Carondelet: Michigan Avenue Between Haven Street and Loughborough Avenue
Heading south of Haven on the west side are a row of house from a wide age range, including many old wood frame buildings. But first there are two brick houses, both of which look to be apartments now. Below, this wood frame house with a hipped roof is very old, perhaps before or just…
Revisiting Carondelet: Michigan Avenue Between Iron and Mott Streets
Next up south of Iron Street, which doglegs at Michigan, is the old Des Peres School, which I’ve looked at before. The rest of the block has been dramatically altered with the construction of a community health center. Crossing Holly Hills Avenue, the streetscape goes back to a more normal appearance for the area, with…
Whittemore Place
Along the west side of Lafayette Square, in between Missouri Avenue and South Jefferson are Whittemore and Albion places. We’ll look at Whittemore Place today. Nothing of the street had been developed by 1876, when Compton and Dry published Pictorial St. Louis, as can be seen above, even though Lafayette Avenue had already been built…
Oregon Avenue Between Arsenal and Juniata Streets, Benton Park West, Fall 2020
Heading south on Oregon Avenue towards Juniata Street, we go through what was once the St. Louis Commons, an area of Karst Topography that was pockmarked with sinkholes, quarries and other rugged uneven land. As we can see from the Compton and Dry Pictorial St. Louis from 1876, Oregon was cut through late compare to…
Arsenal Street Between Oregon and Nebraska Avenues, Benton Park West, Fall 2020
Update: I revisited the block in May of 2022, going east to west. Arsenal Street in between Oregon and Nebraska avenues is an interesting mix of houses and businesses, some of which have a long history in South St. Louis. First up is an old florist’s shop, which once had coolers in the basement. It…
Former Burger Chef, Arsenal and Jefferson
Just to the north of the beautiful street wall of Nineteenth Century buildings lining South Jefferson north of Wyoming, a parking lot appears. A keen eye will see that faded but still visible paint, including a yellow arrow can be seen in the cracked and deteriorating asphalt. Then, like at Pompeii, a ceramic floor appears,…
French Market Area, Revisited
I looked at the French Market area almost a decade ago in February of 2011 when there was a thick coat of ice on the ground in the area south of the elevated lanes of Highway 40 in the area that is known as Frenchtown. It was once a bustling area, anchored by the French…
Jefferson and Gravois, Revisited
I’ve looked at the intersection of South Jefferson and Gravois avenues in July of 2012, and I came back over the course of several months to photograph the crossing of two of the most important streets in the inner South Side. It’s come a long way from when it was a small exurban village surrounded…