Franklin and Grand Avenues, 1908

From Comfort Stations for St. Louis (1908). Again from the Civic League, a view of what might have been. Here is the intersection of Grand Boulevard and Franklin Avenue, slightly north of Grand Center. The Civic League suggested a mighty monument to St. Ange (Captain Louis St. Ange de Bellerive), the first French commandant of St. Louis. St. Ange established a proper government at St. Louis in 1766 when he arrived, and he created the first official system of land grants for the area. Interestingly, underneath the monument to St. Ange would have been a system of lavatories. The message being sent by putting St. Ange atop a large public toilet is, at the very least, intriguing.


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