Update: I went back and covered this intersection extensively in the late summer of 2020 with new and historic photos. See the houses to the southeast of this intersection from 2019.

I was sitting at the intersection of Gravois and Jefferson last weekend, when I began to wonder what this crossing of two of the city’s most important streets looked like one hundred years ago.

Several of the corners of the intersection, which also includes Sidney Street, have beautiful if slightly ragtag historic buildings.

But several of the corners now have a gas station, Church’s chicken and a 7-11, all of which produce large amounts of garbage that blows around the intersection.

Looking at Sanborn maps, I realized that Gravois was actually a relatively narrow road, apparently widened in the great boulevard widening of the early Twentieth Century.? Buildings were only partially demolished, and their fronts were reassembled on the newly truncated buildings.