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: Tornado
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…
Demolition, The Chesterfield
Unlike most of the area south of Delmar Boulevard which is being repaired following the May 16, 2026 tornado, there was one building, the Chesterfield, that was not so lucky. Hit by the twister and then damaged further by a fire on January 24, 2026, the building was condemned for demolition. I caught a photo…
Washington Terrace Gates, Summer 2026
I’ve looked at the Washington Terrace gates before, first in January of 2012 and then again in November of 2014. I would probably describe the architecture as Norman Romanesque Revival, it seems like it was shrouded in ivy for much of its early existence. Readers have told me that college students or young men lived…
Nineteenth Anniversary of Saint Louis Patina
Nineteen years…I remember when I turned nineteen years old in 1997 it was fairly anticlimactic as no new privileges are unlocked like when you turn sixteen, seventeen or eighteen. Perhaps I feel the same for nineteen years for this site. I do remember when I hit my 6,000th post finally grasping the breadth of St….
Former Temple Israel, Tornado Damaged
I’m concerned about the long term condition of the former Temple Israel at the northwest corner of Holy Corners, Kingshighway and Washington Boulevard. Its roof was almost completely ripped off by the tornado of May 16, 2025, and I haven’t seen any attempts to cover the hole since then. There was an article in the…
Late Summer Odds and Ends
I had some leftover photos I didn’t have a use for, so as usual, I do an odds and ends post. The building above is on Sidney Street in Soulard just to the east of Interstate 55. By comparison, this corner storefront above on the Near North Riverfront is a real survivor, with most of…
After the Tornado: The Greater Ville, Revisited
The Greater Ville was hit hard, so badly, and much worse than I conveyed three weeks ago. The northern part of the neighborhood was largely intact, with a little bit of abandonment, and now almost every house has been damaged, and many completely destroyed. Below is Marcus Street, on the west side of Western Lutheran…
After the Tornado: The Ville, Revisited
I traveled around The Ville some more and it has been devastated. Yes, there was already a fair amount of abandonment and vacant lots, but what was intact and in good condition was damaged badly. Sumner High School suffered extensive loss of its roof, as well as some windows, from what I understand. It was…