Update: I returned in the summer of 2023. Lee Avenue is for some reason a broad, open street, with a fascinating mix of architectural styles. You can almost see the development of the city decade by decade as you drive along it.
Tag: Penrose
San Francisco Court
We discovered another amazing Modernist enclave in North St. Louis, just to the northeast of Natural Bridge and Kinghsighway. Originally a victory garden during World War II, it was purchased by a developer and turned into ranch houses in the 1960’s. The western portion of the tract became the Carousel Motel, facing Kingshighway.
A Far Corner of North St. Louis
Nestled under the crushing embrace of I-70 to the north, and plotted out over relatively hilly terrain, this corner of North St. Louis doesn’t get a lot of visitors. The house above looks like it could be out of the Brady Bunch, if it weren’t boarded up. Perhaps what is most interesting about this board-up…
Vanished North Side and County Institutions
Update: Shop ‘N Save was purchased by local supermarket chain Schnuck’s in 2018, and many of its stores were closed or rebranded. Famous St. Louis institutions are what make the city unique. Sadly, many of those institutions are fading, one by one. Rinderer’s Drugs, long an institution in North City and North County, recently announced…
Natural Bridge Avenue
Update: Revised October 2018 with revised photographs, texts and links to relevant posts. On the heels of my pleasant trip down Page Blvd last weekend, I decided to check out Natural Bridge Ave, a possible route for the northern extension of Metrolink. Sadly, while there was more life along Natural Bridge, much of the historic…