Reading Road, Avondale and the Riots, Cincinnati

I’ve looked at Fourteenth Street NW before in Washington, DC, and probably elsewhere, so I was interested in what had become of Reading Road in the Avondale neighborhood of Cincinnati. High up in the hills, there were two riots, one in 1967 and then less than a year later in 1968. The first one revolved…

Wick Park, Youngstown

My first stop off the interstate in Youngstown was Wick Park, which is a historic district up on a plateau of sorts just north of the downtown area. The outstanding focal point of the neighborhood and sitting at the end of Park Avenue where it t-bones with 5th Avenue is the Stambaugh Auditorium. I think…

Other Fall Updates, Fires, Demolitions, Etc.

It finally happened, the Mullanphy Emigrant Home, which I last looked at back in June of this year, caught on fire and burned to the ground on the night of September 14th. There is certainly no grand conspiracy, but simply the fact that overnight lows reached 50 degrees, and a squatter’s fire probably spread out…

Stop Me Before I Paint Again!

Disclaimer: This post is not an attack at homeowners, who due to economic hardship have painted their house, or who inherited a painted brick house. St. Louis Patina legal disclaimer: In no way is St. Louis Patina accusing or insinuating that the current owner of the building depicted in the above and below photos is…

Grosse Pointe, Park, Shores, Woods and Farms

Ah, Grosse Pointe! Where you can watch twelve-year-olds ride by on their bikes and listen to them swear like sailors! Grosse Pointe is actually a series of different suburbs, with the Grosse Pointe being one, and then a series of other independent communities an additional modifier such as Farms or Shores. There are multiple shopping…

Indian Village, Detroit

Cruising by Mr. Fish on my to Grosse Pointe on the East Vernon Highway, I stumbled onto a mirage, a neighborhood of perfectly preserved houses along several long blocks with stately trees known as Indian Village due to several, but not all, of its streets being named after Native American nations. Indian Village is pretty…

West Boston Boulevard, Detroit

I took in a bit of the Boston-Edison Historic District, traveling east down West Boston Boulevard just west of the Cathedral of the Most Blessed Sacrament. Chicago Boulevard and some other streets compose the large neighborhood, where some of the most important figures in Detroit history, including automobile executives, lived. As would be expected, the…

East Grand Boulevard, Detroit

Terminating at the MacArthur Bridge, which leads out to Belle Isle, East Grand Boulevard stretches to the north-northwest, and is lined with fine houses that date to the early Twentieth Century. It makes ninety degree turn to become West Grand Boulevard, which we briefly looked at yesterday as part of our larger discussion of Grand…

Belle Isle, Detroit

As I drove onto Belle Isle, connected to the City of Detroit by the MacArthur Bridge, I blew by a small booth. Thinking I should stop after all, I backed up and talked to the woman and realized I had to pay $11 for the honor of driving my car around the park for around…

Grant’s Farm, Mid-June 2023

The Busch Family Ownership Group (minus Billy and Adolphus IV) welcomes you to Grant’s Farm! We paid an evening visit to the Busch family estate recently. I learned the structure below was the ice skating building. This was part of the original holdings of the Dent Family, and the Hardscrabble log cabin is one of…