Weird things abound in this city, the result of the slow, often hodgepodge rate of development. But sometimes, those weird things survive up to the present day, such as the “funky alley,” as I call it, just southwest of the intersection of Ohio and Gravois. Even back in 1875, in the Compton and Dry, you can see how this might have been a quarry on the block. The houses that create the weird alley that zigzags back and forth are already built.

By the early Twentieth Century, the alley has survived, as new buildings fill in the block.

I also found this really cool house just around the corner. Such a fascinating relic, this alley is.