Southwest Avenue Between Reber Place and Botanical Avenue

Heading northeast up Southwest Avenue, we get closer to the heart of the Hill, and see more interesting renovations to houses. More Formstone, which was popular in the mid-Twentieth Century, was added to the front of these houses. Also, the fenestration was altered as well. Below, there is this super rare Italianate wood frame house,…

Southwest Avenue Between Dalton Avenue and Reber Place

I figured out recently that Southwest Avenue through The Hill neighborhood was once Old Manchester Road before it was diverted onto its current path through the Grove. Consequently, there is an interesting mix of housing styles, reflecting the long period of habitation along the former artery–and it also explains Southwest Avenue’s strange path through the…

St. Ambrose Roman Catholic Church

St. Ambrose Roman Catholic Church, as can be seen above, started out with much more humble accommodations than its current church, which dates from 1925. St. Ambrose, who was the archbishop of Milan when it was the capital of the late Western Roman Empire, is one of the Four Doctors of the Roman Catholic Church….

Magic Chef Demolition, Early April 2018

Demolition continues at the old Magic Chef factory, and huge piles of pulverized concrete dominate the southern portion of the property. For the time being, however, the building along Daggett is still standing.

Magic Chef Factory, Under Demolition

The Magic Chef Factory is being demolished, to make ready for what will probably be the largest redevelopment ever for The Hill neighborhood. I came by and snapped some pictures of the complex, which had fascinating curves in it for train tracks. This demolition was almost always the final verdict for the sprawling factory.

Kingshighway Viaduct, Revisited

Update: The old viaduct has been replaced with a new bridge which opened in 2017. The days are numbered for the old Kingshighway Viaduct, about to be reduced to rubble in the next month or so. I stopped by to take some pictures of the demolition, only to realize it had not yet begun. Turns…

Terracotta

We were surprised to see this shield motif so low on a storefront wall on The Hill.  Normally they appear much higher.

Interstate Destruction

I wish I could have seen this area before interstates came crashing through; I-44 was built less than a decade before I was born, but the damage was already done. Volunteer trees have been cleared from the chain link fence, but after they’d already grown into the fence. No one was in sight when we…