Forward, Into The Past
Just to the north of the Lafayette Park Hotel stood a small single story building at the corner of Mississippi and Park Avenues. Its address was 1400 Mississippi Avenue. The earliest reference I see was from 1888. A popular corner place, It became a polling station for the 23rd ward, 123rd precinct of St. Louis:
Just north of the new apartment complex at 2200 LaSalle Street is a row of developing townhouses, built with an appreciation of the Lafayette Square historic district. Infill opportunities are scarce in this area, let alone having an entire city block free up. Here’s the story of that area, once known as Sherwood Forest.
Way back in 1977, an eye-catching attraction downtown was the new geometric mural of Charles Lindbergh by Charles Fishbone and Sarah Linquist. It was clear from a distance, and became an abstract of 1,160 blocks of grey paint as you got close.
The entertainer Danny Kaye (1911 – 1987) was a good many famous things contained in one person. He was an actor, a dancer, comedian, novelty song singer; try “Oh, By Jingo,” here: https://youtu.be/SAw7MA8sAIc A gourmet chef, pilot, and philanthropist, Kaye was also great with children and excelled at story telling.
This essay is about the Treemonisha sculpture, but to get there, let’s journey back 50 years to visit Lafayette Square in March 1971. A quick look around, and we’d understand why properties sold for the cost of their back taxes. The housing stock was dilapidated and no banks would finance the buying of a vacant shell. No realtors listed the properties.
