Forward, Into The Past
18th Street at Chouteau has a rich history of causing traffic flow issues. Due to a quirk in the layout, there was nearly always a sharp jog (or dogleg) to the west as one headed south, then 18th Street continued as Second Carondolet. It was this way as far back as 1875, as shown in the Compton and Dry pictorial map:
Continue reading “1930: The Dogleg Corner of Lafayette Square”St. Louis was simultaneously blessed for growth and cursed for livability by its proximity to the rich bituminous coal deposits of Southern Illinois. It made for cheap power, which allowed energy intensive industries like brick works and steel makers to thrive here. Most residents followed suit (or is it soot?) and burned coal to heat their homes. The smoke from soft coal hung heavy in the air of St. Louis every winter, dimming the daylight and causing respiratory issues. City efforts at smoke abatement through legislation reached back to the late 1860s, but the power of the coal business and low cost for home use kept it a perceived necessary evil.
Continue reading “1934: John A Bryan on Clearing The Air”
1935 was well over 80 years ago. Lafayette Square had regressed from mansions to boarding and rooming houses, as the nation around it sank firmly into its fifth year of economic depression. FDR attempted to prime the pump with federal funds by creating both the Social Security Administration and National Recovery Administration (NRA) that year.
