Former alderman Jeffrey Boyd went off to federal prison a week ago today, and I thought I would go check up on the heart of his former ward, which is the Wells-Goodfellow neighborhood. It’s a huge neighborhood, and I discovered this church that I had never seen before at the northeast corner of Hodiamont and Wabada avenues. It’s currently the God’s Way Pentacostal Church, but was originally Mt. Auburn Methodist Church.
Continuing east down Wabada, there is much abandonment. I’ve looked at other sections of this street in the neighborhood, but not just east of Hodiamont.
It’s in rough shape, like many parts of the neighborhood.
But I should stress there are also many houses that are in great condition, their owners holding on and keeping on, keeping on, despite of what their alderman was doing.
And there is such a wealth of beautiful architecture.
And there are still some businesses on Goodfellow Boulevard.
But heading up to Labadie Avenue east of Goodfellow, to a street which I took particular interest in, things are not looking good at all. The fire had already happened by spring of 2021, but there is still a sense of deterioration on this block.
They were all definitely in better shape back in 2017 when I first discovered them; I suspect they will all be demolished at some point.
What is the future of the neighborhood now that the former alderman is gone, leaving behind this interview with KSDK? I do not know.
While not a member, my family used to go to the Mt. Auburn Methodist Church for the Friday fish fries in the 1950s for the “Jack Salmon”. We lived around the corner on the 5900 block of Highland Avenue. I drove by recently and our home is now a vacant lot so it’s good to see the church is still in use.