St. Louis Mercantile Library, 1887

From Commercial and Architectural St. Louis by George Washington Orear (1888). This cut superbly depicts the six-story Mercantile Library at the southwest corner of Broadway and Locust. The building was erected on the site of the old Mercantile Library in 1887 at 510 Locust Street. At the time of the new building's construction, the library had around 2,800 members and more than 160,000 volumes circulating. The cornerstone of the building was laid by Henry Shaw, and the structure was in use as the library until 1998, when the facility moved to Normandy and on the campus of the University of Missouri-St. Louis. [Built St. Louis] has more information on the extant structure.

National Bank of Commerce, 1891

From Commercial and Architectural St. Louis by George Washington Orear (1891). The National Bank of Commerce was among the twenty largest banks in the country due to its status as a "correspondent" bank; prior to the Federal Reserve System in 1913, banks relied on larger, regional banks for credit and liquidity. National Bank of Commerce was such a bank. National Bank of Commerce was liquidated and then recapitalized after the Panic of 1907, then later merged into the Commerce Trust Company, eventually forming Commerce Bank. It is unclear when the building was constructed or demolished. [Emporis] and [Built St. Louis] record an incarnation of the National Bank of Commerce was built in 1902 and demolished in either 1977 or 1980. However, a photograph of this building on Built St. Louis shows the building above (obviously built prior to 1902). In either case, the building was located at North Broadway and Olive.

Collier White Lead and Oil Works, 1876

From Saint Louis: The Future Great City of the World by L.U. Reavis (1876). The Collier White Lead and Oil Works, bounded by 10th and Clark, produced a variety of oil and lead products from 1837 to 1889, when it merged with other major lead producers to create the White Lead Trust. It was one of the largest lead production factories in the United States. In 1890, the trust was broken up, and the company was incorporated into the National Lead Company. National Lead was renamed NL Industries in 1971; it is unclear when the facility on Clark Ave. was demolished.

Cerre House, ca. 1785

From A History of Missouri from the Earliest Explorations and Settlements until the Admission of the State into the Union by Louis Houck (1908). This is a sketch of the house of Jean Gabriel Cerre, a merchant who immigrated to St. Louis in about 1781. Cerre took up residence in a home built about 1770, which measured 60 by 30 feet. Cerre became among the richest men in the area; his daughter, Marie Cerre, married Auguste Chouteau in 1786, uniting two of St. Louis' most powerful families. The Cerre House originally was located on a block bounded by St. Charles and Locust on the north and south and 1st and the river on the west and east. Also on the site (nearer the river than the Cerre House) were a series of slave quarters. Currently located at the site of the Cerre House is the St. Louis Gateway Arch parking garage.