View of 12th Street north of Olive Street, 1907

View of 12th Street looking north from Olive, dated 1907, from an eBay postcard listing.

The eleven story building in the foreground is the St. Louis Star Building, since demolished. Three prominent buildings survive, including the Hotel Jefferson beyond the Star Building. For a very similar view, from the University City library, click for a photograph.

The Hunt for 1875: Plate #6

I have seen the Compton and Dry pictorial St. Louis used for a variety of historical purposes, but I have yet to see a full comparison of the pictorial St. Louis in 1875 with what remains today. Each day a new plate will appear in the order of their appearance in the Compton and Dry map, followed by an edited version in which the remaining buildings (as far as I can tell) are highlighted in blue. All images are from the Library of Congress downloadable map.

Plate index:

(Click image to enlarge)

Surviving buildings from Plate #6:
• 1331-1335 S. 7th (commercial)

Plate #6:

(Click image to enlarge)

Remaining buildings from Plate #6:

(Click image to enlarge)

The Hunt for 1875: Plate #3

I have seen the Compton and Dry pictorial St. Louis used for a variety of historical purposes, but I have yet to see a full comparison of the pictorial St. Louis in 1875 with what remains today. Each day a new plate will appear in the order of their appearance in the Compton and Dry map, followed by an edited version in which the remaining buildings (as far as I can tell) are highlighted in blue. All images are from the Library of Congress downloadable map.

Plate index:

(Click image to enlarge)

Surviving buildings from Plate #3:
• 744 S. 3rd (St. Mary of Victories Catholic Church)
• 744 S. 4th (commercial)
• 750 S. 4th (commercial)
• 701 S. Broadway (commercial; Beale on Broadway)
• 736 S. Broadway (commercial; Broadway Oyster Bar)

Plate #3:

(Click image to enlarge)

Remaining buildings from Plate #3:

(Click image to enlarge)

The Admiral and the Robert E. Lee, ca. 1970

The Admiral and the Robert E. Lee, 20th century entertainment riverboats, were part of the St. Louis waterfront for decades. Although the Admiral spent much of its recent years as a moored stationary casino, it once plied the waters of the Mississippi as a streamlined dance hall.  The Admiral was scrapped in 2011 after the revocation of its casino license and the deterioration of its hull. The Robert E. Lee, a recreation of an earlier steamboat of the same name, was primarily a floating restaurant until its destruction by fire in 2010 while it awaited renovation as a restaurant in St. Charles on the Missouri.

For video of the burning of the Robert E. Lee:
http://www.ksdk.com/news/local/story.aspx?storyid=198427

Nord St. Louis Turnverein, ca. 2005

The Nord St. Louis Turnverein, located at the corner of Salisbury and 20th Streets, was built in stages starting in 1871 as one of several athletic recreation centers for German immigrants in the city.  Turnvereins were the brainchild of a Prussian, Friedrich Ludwig Jahn, who conceived of them as places to practice and teach the new exercise known as gymnastics in the early 19th century.  In addition to fire damage, the Nord Turnverein bore the scars of decades of vacancy after the group moved out in the 1980s, and in 2011, the remnants of the building were demolished and replaced with a vacant lot. With its removal, the intersection of 20th and Salisbury now has no structure at its corners for the first time since prior to the invention of the ice cream soda, the cash register, and earmuffs.

The photograph above is from the city of St. Louis' Geo St. Louis web site. For more images of it:
http://www.builtstlouis.net/northside/hyde_park03.html

The Sud St. Louis Turnverein survives at the corner of 10th and Carroll Streets.  For images of it:
http://www.usgennet.org/usa/mo/county/stlouis/turnverein.htm

Downtown Pontiac, ca. 1955

From the Boston Public Library Flickr photostream is this postcard of the Downtown Pontiac dealership at 4141 Lindell Boulevard. According to the postcard, Downtown Pontiac offered "personalized service" at "15 minutes from everywhere," while exhorting that "most everyone likes us." The early midcentury modern building has been replaced by a retail strip mall that currently features a Blockbuster Video rental outlet.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/boston_public_library/5532147918

King Bros. Motel, ca. 1955

From the Boston Public Library Flickr photostream is this postcard of the King Bros. Motel at the junction of Routes 40, 61, 66, and 67. Today the intersection is better known as Lindbergh Boulevard and Clayton Road ( next to the Interstate 64. The motel also was known as the Smith Bros. Motel for a time, but has since been replaced by upscale retail establishments.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/boston_public_library/5532147274

An aerial view of the motel:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/boston_public_library/5531563615

View of Olive Street, ca. 1905

From an eBay listing for a postcard is this image of Olive Street and Broadway, looking west on Olive. As far as is known, no building in this picture survives. On the right is an unknown building that was demolished in 1909 to make way for the LaSalle Building. In the midground distance on the right is the Carleton Building, identified by the wall paint at the top and its distinctive cornice. It was located at the northeast corner of Sixth and Olive, and was demolished after 1967 and replaced by a modern office building. On the left is an unknown building demolished in 1907 and replaced by the 3rd National Bank Building, which itself was demolished in 1980 and replaced by the Metropolitan Square Building.

Hotel Jefferson, ca. 1920

From two eBay listings are these postcard images of the Hotel Jefferson (since renamed the Jefferson Arms Apartments), located at 415 N. Tucker Boulevard and built in 1904. The hotel played host to President Woodrow Wilson and President Harry Truman, and it was the location of meetings and the hotel for dignitaries at the 1916 Democratic National Convention. Although the building still stands, according to news reports the interior of the building deteriorated after its conversion to senior apartments in the 1960s. It was purchased by the Pyramid Company in July 2006, which evicted the building's more than 500 apartment-dwellers. Redevelopment into condominiums failed with Pyramid in 2008, and the Jefferson remains vacant.

http://www.bizjournals.com/stlouis/stories/2006/07/24/story6.html

http://www.bizjournals.com/stlouis/stories/2008/05/05/story1.html

http://www.stltoday.com/business/local/article_44353de2-5efd-11e0-8040-001a4bcf6878.html

Speedwa School Annex, 1923

From an eBay listing for a postcard is this image of the former Speedwa School Annex building at Hebert and Grand Avenues. The original Speedwa School (a stenography school) still stands at Sullivan and Grand (one block south), but this building, a simpler and more utilitarian breed, was demolished in July 2009. Depicted above with a general store/grocer in the bottom floor, it appears from wall signage that the building continued in that use for some time.

From the Geo St. Louis city site is this photograph (circa 2007). Prior to its demolition, it had been a vacant brick building for at least 20 years. It is now a vacant gravel lot.

Old National Hotel, ca. 1935

From the Historic American Building Survey is this photograph taken by the Piaget-van Raavensway team in the 1930s. Although not as imposing as other structures taken down at the riverfront, this particular building would have been ripe for historical tours. The Old National Hotel was built in 1847 on the site of the former Old National Hotel, which in turn had been built in 1831 (on the site of the first Protestant church in St. Louis). If the building had been saved, it would immediately become one of the oldest buildings in the area, and certainly the oldest standing hotel in the city.

But that's not all. Bear me a brief history lesson.

In 1846, the Whig Party had succeeded in getting a candidate elected to the United States House of Representatives from the state of Illinois; indeed, he was the only Whig from Illinois in the Congress. The man was tall, gaunt, and rather stiff when posing for his first photograph -- a daguerreotype, to be precise. The elections were held in late 1846, but the the first session of the 30th Congress did not actually begin until December 1847. Thus, to arrive in time, the man left Illinois on October 25, 1847, with his wife and two young boys in tow.

He had been to the big city of Chicago in July 1847 (then the home of some 25,000 souls). He also had been to New Orleans in 1831 on a flatboat (even in 1831, home to some 45,000 people). Memphis, also on the Mississippi, housed only some 10,000 in the 1840s. St. Louis was massive by comparison. In October 1847, at least 75,000 people teemed in the city's narrow streets. French, English, German -- all tongues mixed in the metropolis of the West. Thus, the biggest city of this man's life now lay before him, as he waited to board a train bound for the East Coast. In the coming years, he would take a stand against the Mexican-American War, return home to Springfield, return to elected office in 1860, and lead the nation through the worst crisis in its history. In October 1847, he was only beginning that journey. And at the start of that journey, on October 28, 1847, he stayed at the Old National Hotel.

Abraham Lincoln upon his election to Congress, 1846

The Old National Hotel, located at Third and Market streets, was demolished for the Jefferson National Expansion Memorial in 1948.

Republican Building, 1887

From The Industries of Saint Louis by J.W. Leonard (1887) is this drawing of the Republican Building, a fine Second Empire built at 3rd and Chestnut in 1873 (two blocks north of the Old Cathedral), after a disastrous fire in 1870 destroyed the previous building. The designers were Thomas Walsh and Edward Jungenfeld, who incorporated a cast iron facade on the lower two stories and hydraulic pressed brick on the upper three stories. A festival and speechmaking marked the opening of the building in January 1873. As a nod to the fate of the previous Republican Building, the 1873 form had several fireproofing options -- iron ceilings, cement floors (covered in pine), fire hoses on every floor, and water tanks were kept on the premises.

It appears the fireproofing lasted until the Jefferson National Expansion Memorial demolitions.

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.

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.

Frisco Building at 906 Olive Street, 1906

From the Washington University Eames and Young Architectural Photographs Collection. Two photographs of the Frisco Building; the exterior depicts the Frisco as it was in 1906, complete with Frisco System signage. The second depicts the well-appointed lobby of the Frisco, including what appear to be either flower pots or spittoons near the elevators.