Categories: Historical People of Lafayette Square, Historical Photos, Historical Streets and Architecture, History of the Lafayette Square Restoration Committee, Lafayette Square History
Richard Compton and Camile Dry rightly deserve credit for their amazingly comprehensive 1875 pictorial map of St Louis. It is the standard by which others are judged, and certainly worth your study if new to the subject. I highly recommend the expandable version on the Library of Congress site: https://www.loc.gov/resource/g4164sm.gpm00001/?st=gallery There have been other pictorial […]
Categories: Historical Photos, Lafayette Square History
Ever noticed the 5 story, vaguely moorish looking building pictured above? The CF Blanke Building on Papin Street near the corner of 14th and Chouteau is a 156,000 square foot behemoth, Parts of it date back to 1888, when it was home to the Haydock Brothers Carriage Works. When completed, it was the largest carriage […]
Categories: Historical People of Lafayette Square, Historical Photos, Lafayette Square History
1919: The Most Distinguished Woman in Lafayette Square While paging through John Albury Bryan’s book about Lafayette Square, I noted a line in which he wrote that the most distinguished couple to have ever lived in Lafayette Square may have been Phillip North Moore and his wife Eva Perry Moore. This would come as […]
Categories: Historical People of Lafayette Square, Historical Streets and Architecture, Lafayette Square History
The photo above is of 1926 Hickory Street in April, 1970. It’s a “before” example of the properties recognized for their potential and restored in Lafayette Square back in the brave days. This story is about that, and a cautionary tale about what we risk by trusting government to always work in the […]
Categories: Historical People of Lafayette Square, Historical Streets and Architecture, Lafayette Park History, Lafayette Square History
The first essay in this long series covered a man who argued long ago for the restoration of Lafayette Square. In 1969 the creation of the Lafayette Square Restoration Committee was a pivot point for active change here, in terms of stemming demolition, stabilizing properties and enticing others to share the vision of rebirth in […]
Categories: Historical Streets and Architecture, Lafayette Square History
The corner of Lafayette and Missouri Avenues shares the same multi-address feature of the Sheble-Bixby house at Mississippi and Lafayette. It contains 2166 Lafayette Avenue, and 1700 and 1706 Missouri Avenue. While a single mansion, it was once part of the residential estate of local physician Dr Joseph Spiegelhalter and his six children. […]
Categories: Lafayette Square History
1892: The Speaking Tubes Of Lafayette Square A reference to ‘speaking tubes’ appeared during a look at old real estate listings around Lafayette Square. Being from split level suburbia, I’d never heard of them. When I was a kid, a couple of my friends had intercom systems in their homes. It was a 60’s […]
Categories: Historical Photos, Historical Streets and Architecture, Lafayette Square History
Sometimes a three story hotel on a conspicuous corner will simply disappear. Here’s the story of one in Lafayette Square.