Short Essays (500-1000 Words) Archives - Page 3 of 7

1849: Like A Ton Of Bricks (Part 1)

“Architecture starts when you carefully place two bricks together. There it begins.”
Ludwig Mies van der Rohe

You build with what you have at hand. St Louis was geographically gifted for growth by sitting atop two dandy sources of construction materials – limestone and clay. As function also leads to fashion, you only have to stroll around Lafayette Square to witness the flights of imagination launched by architects working with bricks from fired clay.

The walls of a frame house left to nature will last about five years before beginning to fall apart. The walls of a brick structure can stand for a hundred. Old home preservationists get the benefit of a head start in St. Louis City. We often talk about an otherwise decrepit house as having “good bones”.

Manchester clay to St. Louis bricks

The area of Manchester Road that parallels the River Des Peres between Kingshighway and McCausland was a rich source of brick clay. Two miles wide and four miles long, a one to two foot seam of high quality clay ran east to west. This district was mined using shafts and slopes. Frequent blasting loosened the clay for easier removal. Brick factories developed as close as possible to the source of supply.. Called Cheltenham today, the area attracted Irish and Italian immigrants to work the deposits. In turn, clay mining and brick making helped establish both Dogtown and the Hill. These neighborhoods flanked the mines to the north and south. The mines operated from the 1850’s into the 1940’s.

*Sketch of fire brick works, pre-1904, from “The Clay Working Plants Of St Louis.” As early as 1839, St Louis brickyards were turning out in excess of 20 million bricks annually.*

“In 1849, the steamboat White Cloud caught fire and drifted into the riverfront wharves. A third of the city went up in the subsequent blaze. A hurriedly-passed local ordinance forbade the construction of wooden buildings, and St. Louis became even more predominantly brick.

Firebrick from St. Louis kilns proved suitable not only for buildings and streets, but also for sewer lines under the fast-growing metropolis. St. Louis truly was (and remains) a brick city.

In this detail from an 1874 Currier and Ives print, note the distinctive terracotta shade of the brick city.

Ready availability, low cost of production and transportation, and a friendly zoning ordinance combined to promote a distinct city architecture. Within this singular theme of brick exist striking variations.

Still a vibrant expression of the past

You won’t find such an array of styles within a single building material as you do with St. Louis City and brick. Pittsburgh and Baltimore might come close, but walk Benton Park, Downtown, Lacledes Landing, Soulard and Lafayette Square, then find another city like this. We take it for granted since it surrounds us like air and water – part of our urban environment.

On January 10th, 2018 Lara Hamdan, KWMU radio and Don Marsh presented an episode of the excellent St Louis On The Air series that discussed Evens-Howard Place, an area approximately where the Brentwood Prominade is today. It was a vibrant middle-class African American neighborhood collectively engaged in fire brick production.

In part two, a deeper dive into a specific and influential company with Lafayette Square roots; The Hydraulic Press Brick Company. Right here next week: lafayettesquarearchives.com/1872-like-a-ton-of-bricks-part-2/

Resources

(1) Urbanist Dispatch

(2) Rome of the West (Blog)

(3) Dotage St. Louis (Blog)

KWMU 90.7 FM Radio St. Louis

A Look Back at Sherwood Forest

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.

2023: I Spied A Skink

My dog and I walked a trail through the woods in Kirkwood Park last week. Approaching a bridge over the creek, I noted a couple of lizards turn tail and disappear below the decking. On our way back, I snuck up and got some photos of the little fellas. I knew they were skinks, but had no real idea what that means, so had to crack the internet for detail.

2013: Vile Wild Violets

Wild Violets

Sometimes scary tales involve something one wouldn’t associate with a threat. Something pleasant to the eye, that wouldn’t hurt a fly. Little wild violets, for example.

We once had a home with a large yard in South County. Pat came in beaming one spring morning, delighted by the little blue flowers that had appeared in our lawn.

2020: A Walk In Lafayette Park

I recently took a look at an enlarged view of Lafayette Park, and came away pretty amazed at what the map recognized.

1887: Horse Manure and The City

Horses are beautiful creatures; large, strong and well-suited to working with people. They found an immediate home in the heart of American cities.

St. Louis had challenges on many levels in dealing with its own waste. Without a dissipating wind the coal smoke hung like a low shroud over the city. Sewage often refused to drain properly, garbage was dumped in open pits, and animals died without proper burial.

1878: Iron Men – The Pullis Brothers.

Several years ago, I visited with Andrew Weil, Executive Director for Landmarks Association of St. Louis. This group is “the primary advocate for the (St. Louis) region’s built environment.” They’re a group essential to identifying and preserving the best of our architectural heritage. On the wall behind Andrew’s office desk is a large photo of three townhouses in Lafayette Square. Recognizing them, I asked Andrew about their significance to him. He replied that they are his favorite houses in the city. No small praise there.

1738 Park Place, 1827 Kennett Place and 2008 Rutger Street. There is something connecting these three non-adjacent Lafayette Square addresses.

They were the homes of three men, three brothers, and three partners in one of the most significant industries of late 19th century St. Louis. These were the Pullis brothers; Theodore, Augustus, and Thomas.

As architectural ironworks go, Mississippi Iron Works was both huge and diversified. Originally known as T.R. Pullis & Brothers, it created a number of the cast iron storefronts still standing in Lafayette Square, Laclede’s Landing, and in the fanciful gazebos of Tower Grove Park.

1896: Don’ts For The Summer Girl

In July of 1896, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch published a handy reference, meant to remind the city’s young women of their social and personal safety rules. Interesting that they all began with the word “don’t.”

1903: A Lafayette Square Sanborn Map

Sanborn Maps have been created for around 12,000 cities in the US, Canada and Mexico. They were designed so that insurance companies could gauge their risks, and therefore their liabilities from fire. These maps have been published since 1867. The largest collection is online at the US Library of Congress. A more local assortment from the early 1900’s is also available on the Missouri Digital Heritage site, referenced below.

They’re intriguing to explore for the snapshot they provide of our neighborhood during a particular year. Here are a couple of extracted examples, from the 1903 and 1908 Sanborn Maps.

1867: The Lafayette Park House

1874; Missouri Historical Society; photo by Robert Benecke

Crowd management in the park

This victorian home in miniature was built as a single story police station in 1867, around the same time as the fence surrounding Lafayette Park. It was a field office of sorts for the main Soulard Police Station. Police stationed here dealt with the large crowds routinely drawn to events like Thursday concerts. These were held at the bandstand, the ruins of which remain to the northwest of the Park House. In 1873, the Daily Globe reported: “It has been rare that a fine day has called out less than five thousand people to listen to the music.” Historian John Albury Bryan noted,“crowds on Sundays exceeded those of Thursdays.” He quoted the St. Louis Republican from May 23 1877. “Visitors to Lafayette Park on Sunday, between 1pm and 6:45 pm totaled 13,749.”