Well, there certainly has been a lot of changes along Commercial Avenue, the main street of Cairo, since the last time I was here. First of all, we’re down to two buildings on the east side of the street, when there were four the first time I visited. I suspect there will be none soon….
Tag: Urban Prairie
Returning to Cairo, Ten Years Later
It’s been ten years since my last visit to Cairo, Illinois, and it felt like it was time to check in on the town that played a critical role in the history of America, and in St. Louis. It was from here that Ulysses S. Grant, formerly of St. Louis, launched his invasion south, changing…
St. Louis Avenue, JeffVanderLou, Winter 2024
I had originally headed west on St. Louis Avenue based on an unfounded tip that Sarah Lou’s had caught fire. Thankfully, it had not, and I ended up having a great conversation with an older gentleman waiting for the bus out front about the restaurant’s amazing fried chicken instead. Sadly, from the looks of it,…
Gary, Indiana, August 2023
I’m sure these two photos, above and below, are the classic “ruin porn” photos that most people seek out to take when they visit Gary, Indiana. And I’m not going to pretend that the city doesn’t have serious problems, and no one who lives there, I’m sure, is going pretend there aren’t thousands of acres…
Evans Avenue Between Whittier Street and Vandeventer Avenue
I drove down Evans Avenue a little ways just west of Vandeventer Avenue. In case you didn’t know, there is a program that is couple of years old now called “Mow to Own,” where if you maintain a vacant lot owned by the Land Reutilization Authority, you can acquire title to it after a set…
Vine Grove Avenue, The Greater Ville, Spring 2022
Update: Heavily damaged by the tornado on May 16, 2025. After I featured Vine Grove Avenue in two posts (here and here) back in January of 2019, the City began to demolish a large number of the abandoned houses on the one block long street in autumn of the same year. I wondered what had…
A Billionaire in Wells-Goodfellow
Update: On April 7, 2020, Jack Dorsey donated one billion dollars to the fight against the Coronavirus pandemic and women and girls’ rights. 41 Then [Jesus] sat down opposite the offering box, and watched the crowd putting coins into it. Many rich people were throwing in large amounts. 42 And a poor widow came and put…
Facing the New National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency Grounds along 22nd Street
I imagine it was similar when the interstates crashed through St. Louis back in the day. One day you had regular blocks of houses across the street from you, and the next month you had nothing. That’s what it’s like for these houses along 22nd Street and its cross streets, to the east in St….
Future Site of Saint Louis University Hospital, Early June, 2017
I remarked to my companions that I felt like I was in Europe, with its unbroken vistas of fields surrounding Medieval cities. This will be the site of the new SLU Hospital, replacing the old Firmin Desloge building. Yes, it spelled the end for the Pevely Dairy Building. I wasn’t happy it was torn down,…
Flounder Alley House, St. Louis Place
Update: Demolished for the new National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency in 2017. The City of St. Louis cut ties with Paul McKee’s Northside in June of 2018. The elderly woman who lived here has been on the news over the years, talking about how losing her house to eminent domain would be devastating to her life. She…