As I mentioned offhand on Sunday, October 25, I had passed by the former Most Holy Rosary Roman Catholic Church when I looked at San Francisco Avenue in Penrose. I decided to go back and take a closer look at the damage. To put it bluntly, it is not good. A warehouse that had been…
Tag: Penrose
San Francisco Avenue Between North Euclid Avenue to Kingshighway Boulevard, Penrose
Heading north up North Euclid Avenue past these four-families, we make it back to San Francisco Avenue, nearing the end of our journey. We turn left at this house, which is interesting in that it has a poured concrete foundation but has weird proportions. Back on San Francisco Avenue, we see a whole row of…
Sacramento Avenue Between Marcus and North Euclid Avenues, Penrose
At Marcus Street, we next head west on Sacramento, with this house and its companions dating from 1906. We cross over Shreve and see these houses, which are a decade later. And then we see one of the coolest prefab metal cornices in the city on the house below! What I love about St. Louis…
Margaretta Avenue Between Cora and Marcus Avenues, Penrose
Backtracking to a street that makes it past Bradley Park, I settled on Margaretta Avenue to continue on my journey west through Penrose. There’s those three houses above (and another further down) with the half lunettes in the cornices; the construction dates are listed as 1911, and while they and the house below have a…
San Francisco Avenue Between Clarence and North Taylor Avenues, Penrose
Heading west, we pass by the former Most Holy Rosary Roman Catholic Church, which was severely damaged by the tornado of May 16, 2025. I think it might be abandoned, but I am not sure. On the south side of the street, there is this lone house. San Francisco Avenue doglegs to the left, or…
San Francisco Avenue Between Red Bud and Clarence Avenues, Penrose
The next block is still the 4200 block but we see something surprising. The houses are several decades older, dating from 1908. And we see the appearance of some interesting houses, with dramatic and dominant shed roofs over their porches, built in 1923. We cross over Turner Avenue and enter the 4200 block of West…
San Francisco Avenue Between Fair and Red Bud Avenues, Penrose
I thought I would choose a single street in the Penrose neighborhood, San Francisco Avenue, and take a look at its entire stretch, starting at the east end at Fair Avenue by Fairground Park and head west. I think this neighborhood is just really beautiful, and not as old as one might think. These two-families…
North Taylor Avenue Between Margaretta and Kossuth Avenues
North Taylor Avenue is a long street, and it serves as a secondary artery for much of the North Side. So it’s incredibly annoying when all of the sudden at Natural Bridge Avenue, it is one way to the south. I went and detoured around the one way streets and before I knew it, I…
Former Christian Hospital, Abandoned
I looked at the former Christian Hospital back in October of 2021 when it had turned into the Prince Hall Senior Services building, and it looked perfectly fine. But now it’s abandoned and totally trashed! What the heck happened?
Former St. Engelbert’s Campus
One of the more popular former Catholic parishes that I’ve posted about before is the former St. Engelbert’s on Shreve Avenue in the Penrose neighborhood. It might also win the informal award of “Largest Catholic church building most people have never heard of in St. Louis,” as well. It’s huge. I was poking around on…