In 1849, a major fire destroyed most of what is now downtown St. Louis. An ordinance was passed, decreeing that future construction be of stone and brick. The city was blessed, in that it sat squarely on both limestone and high quality clay. Thus, this city of brick. There are places you can stand, where only the sky isn’t made of red blocks. Here is a sampling of the various local brickworks, whose products are still embedded in the ground around Lafayette Square.
