The Hunt for 1875: Plate #1

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:

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Surviving buildings from Plate #1:
• 209 Walnut (Basilica of St. Louis, King of France)
• 11 N. 4th (Old St. Louis County Courthouse)

Plate #1:

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Remaining Buildings from Plate #1:

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Forest Park Band Pagoda, 1910

From eBay listings are these postcards of the original Forest Park bandstand in Pagoda Circle near the Municipal Theater. The bandstand was built in 1876, but in 1911 (around the time of these postcards) it was closed. The next year, it was damaged by a storm and caught fire, and the remnants were demolished. The current pagoda is known as the Nathan Frank Bandstand, after funds for its construction were donated in 1925 by Nathan Frank, a former U.S. House representative of the Missouri 9th district and St. Louis lawyer.

Custom House and Post Office, 1878

From The Pictorial Guide to St. Louis (1878) by Camille Dry is this sketch of the old custom house for St. Louis, located at Olive and Third streets (parts of which are visible in other images on the site). Old Custom House was demolished in the 1930s as part of the Jeffersonal National Expansion Memorial.

St. Louis Morgue, 1878

From Camille Dry's Pictorial Guide to St. Louis (1878). Although it's unclear why a guide to St. Louis would include a trip to the local morgue, Dry dutifully shows the reader what sort of morgue the great city had. According to Dry, "The house of the dead stands just back of the Jail at the corner of Spruce and 12th streets. Here behind a glass partition are three marble slabs, on which are deposited the unknown dead, awaiting identification and burial." I'm sure the marble was quite lovely. The morgue is still located at 12th and Spruce, more than 130 years later.

Post Office Building, 1908

From Public Comfort Stations for St. Louis (1908), a report from the Civic League of St. Louis. This depicts proposed public toilets in underground areas next to the Post Office Building at 815 Olive Street. The Civic League was a great proponent of public restroom facilities, and, as stated in the caption, it believed that the ample sidewalk space provided room for stairwells into underground toilet areas.

St. Louis City Hall, 1904

From The World's Fair, St. Louis, U.S.A., 1904 (1904). Again from Mr. Reid, here is St. Louis City Hall from an interesting angle. Keeping in mind that the building was constructed in 1894, it is fascinating to see it surrounded by new landscaping, wide sidewalks, and virtually no surrounding structures. The open grass, landscaping, and trees have been replaced with a particularly splendid parking facility.

Four Courts Jail and Morgue, ca. 1885

From Commercial and Architectural St. Louis by George Washington Orear (1888):

"The Four Courts, a magnificent building, contains the headquarters of the police department, the health department, the several city courts, the court of criminal correction, first district police court, St. Louis criminal court, the jail and holdover. The main building fronts on Clark ave. the length of the block from 11th to 12th sts. and the architectural features of the structure are grand and imposing. The monster jail building is in the rear center while the Morgue occupies the northeast corner of the block, which is the property of the city."

Post Office Building, 1884

From Commercial and Architectural St. Louis by George Washington Orear (1888). This depicts the Customs House, one of the most solid structures in the city. The building's foundations rest on granite slabs, which in turn rest on granite blocks that were placed into cores excavated to bedrock. It was constructed during the latter part of the 1870s and into the early 1880s. During the late 19th century, virtually every federal office was located in the building, from railroad mail marshals to U.S. Marine hospital services to the U.S. signal service, which operated an observatory for a time from the dome. The Customs House (now known as the Old Post Office) has been renovated; more information is available at [Built St. Louis].

Old St. Louis City Hall, ca. 1885

From Commercial and Architectural St. Louis by George Washington Orear (1888). This print depicts the old city hall, located at Chestnut, Market and Eleventh streets. Many city residents (including Orear) were not fond of the structure; Orear writes that "the City Hall is a monster barn, built of brick, ... and if it does not fall down, it will be because luck is in favor of its occupants." The building later was torn down and the lot currently is the site of the Civil Courts Building (finished in 1929).

Old Courthouse, ca. 1885

From Commercial and Architectural St. Louis by George Washington Orear (1888). A splendid little cut of the Old Courthouse, now under the authority of the National Park Service. The angle of the cut suggests it is from Market and Chestnut, looking northwest.

Laclede House, ca. 1770

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 Pierre Laclede, the first house built in St. Louis proper, constructed in 1764. The sketch is quite detailed (note the village prison in the building attached to the house), considering that the Laclede House was demolished in 1839-1840 and the sketch was published in 1908. Its walls were 2 1/2 feet thick, and it was built of stone, measuring about 34 by 50 feet. In addition to serving as the residence of Laclede, it was the site of the first St. Louis government offices. It was located on the block defined by 1st and 2nd on the east and west, and Market and Walnut on the north and south.

Municipal Courts Building, 1911

From St. Louis, The Fourth City by Walter Stevens (1911). The photograph is a particularly early image of the then-new Municipal Courts Building. The building was used for decades until the construction of the new Federal Courts Building in St. Louis, at which time the city moved its government offices into the old Federal Courts Building. The current arrangement leaves the Municipal Courts Building in mothball status; as one commenter said on Urban Review STL, "With Kiel and Municipal Courts remaining vacant it gives that stretch of downtown an Athens Acropolis look or Roman ruins - artifacts of some earlier culture."

Earlier culture indeed.

http://www.panoramio.com/photo/16129440

Jefferson Memorial, 1920

From Centennial History of Missouri by Walter Stevens (1921); image is pre-1920. The Jefferson Memorial was constructed in 1913 using the profits of the 1904 World's Fair. The building remains in use as the Missouri History Museum.

http://www.panoramio.com/photo/15865987

St. Louis City Hall, 1891

From Commercial and Architectural St. Louis and East St. Louis by D.G. Jones (1891). St. Louis City Hall as it appeared new (construction began in 1890 and finished in 1893). Building is still in use as the city hall, although the tower was removed in 1936.

For more information, see:
http://stlcin.missouri.org/history/structdetail.cfm?Master_ID=1326

http://www.panoramio.com/photo/15864070