Central Public Library, 1919

From The Modern City by the League of American Municipalities (1919) is this fine photograph of the relatively new Central Library, designed by Cass Gilbert and built in 1912.

Shaare Emeth Congregation, 1878

From The Pictorial Guide to St. Louis by Camille N. Dry (1878) is this fine drawing of the Shaare Emeth Congregation's temple at the northeast corner of 17th and Pine streets. The reform Jewish congregation purchased the land and built a temple in the late 1860s, and it continued to occupy the building until the late 1890s, when it moved to the corner of Lindell and Vandeventer, reflecting changing attitudes about fashionable areas of the city. By the 1920s, the congregation population had shifted further west -- this time, Shaare Emeth moved to University City (at 6840 Delmar). By the 1960s, a still-migrating congregation permitted the sale of the University City temple, and Shaare Emeth currently holds services in Creve Coeur.

It is unclear when the Temple at 17th and Pine was demolished. The site is now home to the Plaza Square Apartments.

View of Locust Street east of Beaumont, 1917

From the Problems of St. Louis by the City Plan Commission (1917), showing Locust Street east of Beaumont Street (in the foreground). A vigorous and lively street is present in 1917; few of the buildings remain (shown in blue below):

View of Pine Street east of 12th, 1917

From the Problems of St. Louis by the City Plan Commission (1917) is this photograph of the "irregular" heights of buildings along Pine Street in the early 20th century.

Below is the same image -- extant buildings are marked in blue.

N. 12th and St. Charles, 1917

From the Problems of St. Louis by the City Plan Commission (1917) is this photograph of 12th Street looking north at the intersection of St. Charles and 12th. This particular image is to encourage the arcading (selective amputation) of the two large buildings seen in the distance in order to widen 12th Street as an arterial road. Extant buildings are shown below in blue:

Washington Avenue, 1917

From the Problems of St. Louis by the City Plan Commission (1917) is this view of Washington Avenue, including trolley line and street traffic. Any thoughts on the intersection would be appreciated.

View of Olive Street from Broadway, 1917

From the Problems of St. Louis by the City Plan Commission in 1917 comes this view of Olive Street looking east from Broadway. The City Plan Commission pamphlet tells the reader of the problems of having too much traffic downtown, and it laments the 30-foot-width of the streets in old St. Louis. Perhaps going from 30-foot-wide streets to no streets and no buildings is an improvement, but it doesn't seem like what the City Plan Commission wanted.

Southern Hotel, ca. 1875

Built in 1866, the Southern Hotel was the premiere luxury hotel for business travelers and the well-to-do in post-war St. Louis, located at the corner of Walnut and Fourth streets. Although the location depicted above burned to the ground in 1877 (taking the lives of 21 people), a new hotel was built in 1881. The heroism of Phelim O'Toole was shown at the fire, when O'Toole personally saved the lives of a dozen people. The second Southern Hotel closed in 1912, and was demolished in 1933. The photograph was taken by R. Benecke, portrait and landscape photographers located at Fourth and Market streets, and was located online via eBay.

Ninth and Bremen Avenue, 1936

From the Historic American Buildings Survey, photograph taken in September 1936 by Theodore LaVack of the Adolphus Meier home at the corner of Ninth Street and Bremen Avenue. The Meier home was built in 1842 at the heart of what would become New Bremen, Mo., which was later annexed by the city of St. Louis.

The Meier house no longer exists. Indeed, the corner of Bremen and Ninth no longer exists; instead St. Louis has the I-70 Frontage Road and the Community Wholesale Tire Distributing Company. Adolphus Meier, it was said, was a very charitable man. He made his fortune in the cotton mill industry.

2721 Pine Street, 1936

The Walsh House, built in 1833 for Julius Walsh, was located at 2721 Pine Street.

From the Historic American Buildings Survey by Theodore LaVack, taken on September 1, 1936. The Old Walsh Mansion, as it was known, was used by the St. Elizabeth of Hungary Catholic Church from 1935 to 1947, when the building was vacated. In 1951, the Walsh House was demolished and the site is now surface parking.

Old Cathedral, 1934

From the Historic American Buildings Survey, this photograph was taken by renowned St. Louis architectural photographer Alexander Piaget on April 9, 1934. Within a few short years, everything surrounding the Cathedral, including the street itself, was torn up and destroyed.