American Can Company

The American Can Company really didn’t close that long ago; I have a friend who worked there when he was young. The New York-based company had locations around the United States, and during World War II, the factory, like so many around the country, pivoted to producing war materiel. As I think pretty much everyone…

Wyoming Avenue Between Bent and Oak Hill Avenues

Moving east, the houses start to show the influence of their early Twentieth Century construction, though there is the occasional late Nineteenth Century Queen Anne style house thrown in, stripped of its elaborate millwork. Below is a strange juxtaposition of a Queen Anne and a brick house with a missing third story roof that’s been…

Wyoming Avenue Between Morgan Ford Road and Bent Avenue

Heading east of the commercial strip along Morgan Ford, there are more of those houses with the living room and bedrooms upstairs and the kitchen downstairs. And many more of those wood frame workers’ cottages. And conversions of multi-family housing into single family. But for the most part, we see in this end of Tower…

Around Portis and Alfred Avenues

To the west of Morgan Ford Road but north of the industrial area and the train tracks there is a pocket of houses, many of which are wood frame and quite old. Again, like yesterday, I suspect that these are exurban houses built when this area was way out west and involved in the Russell…

Wyoming Street Between Roger Place and Gustine Place, Tower Grove South

Continuing down Wyoming, we reach some of the Tower Grove Heights subdivision, which was a huge partitioning of land south and east of Tower Grove Park. There were hundreds of these houses built in the first decade of the Twentieth Century. But there were still plenty of four-families mixed in, as well.

Utah Street Between Morgan Ford and Oak Hill Avenue, Tower Grove South

I zigzagged around Tower Grove South recently, starting over at Morgan Ford and working northeast towards the intersection of Arsenal Street and South Grand. Of course, the housing styles go back in time as you head east, with the 1940s being prominent in the west. Remember, the clay industry was still moving along until after…