Stretching out to the west of Jefferson Avenue was the massive Daniel D. Page Addition, which encompassed thousands of parcels, largely platted between 1858 and 1871. Page was the second mayor of St. Louis and he also was heavily involved in real estate. A substantial portion of what we now call Midtown was once owned and developed by Page in the years after the Civil War. We’ll take a look at Washington Avenue from Compton Avenue to Jefferson Avenue in a couple of posts, and see how dramatically it’s changed.
The houses of the well-to-do have been swept away, and light industrial and commercial buildings have taken their place, such as the garage for SLU buses above at the northeast corner of Washington and Compton.
The buildings above and below, 3131-9, was the Moog-St. Louis Spring Company in 1935.
The address below, 3115 was the location of the Barrett Electrical Supply Company in 1935, which looks around the time the building would have been built.
There is the interesting little Streamline storefront next door.
Of course, this street was once lined with townhouse such as this one, below.
This rather nondescript building brings us to the corner with Cardinal Avenue, at which point we then cross over to the next block.
This next building is undergoing renovation after its front wall was damaged, if I remember correctly.
The building below was the Spiess Seat Cover Company.
This final building was originally the Tate Motor Car Company and then later the Canyon Manufacturing Company. The company had a showroom at 3107 Locust Avenue.
My grandfather’s factory was on Washington Ave. for a while and after he passed, the business moved to St Louis Ave in Old North.
That factory was in a former bank as the front office area had a walk in vault with heavy metal doors. I can’t recall what was in the vault, that is what we used it for, but it’s still a clear memory 60 to 70 years later.
The machines on the factory floor used to make their sounds and in my ears, it was the rhythm of music. I miss that.