Topic starter
21/04/2014 5:01 am
There is a nice article in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, as part of the 250th Anniversary Commemoration. It's titled 'Look Back 250 • Steamboats make St. Louis a bustling, prosperous city'. It includes some nice photos. Look Back 250
Also, attached are two photos of the cobblestones returning to Laclede's Landing. As part of an ongoing streets restoration, all streets and sidewalks are being rebuilt. As the crew goes through each block, all stones, some of which are 150+ years old, are removed and saved. After replacing the substructure with stable materials, each stone is hand-set into the street. All historic street lights were incorporated into the new streetscape. The new landscaping comes a little later.
21/04/2014 12:51 pm
250 picture gallery
Quite a few pictures of the waterfront over the years, but one in particular stands out: #162, an aerial shot of the GOLDEN EAGLE in 1947. Lots of St. Louis history covered in the pictures and articles. A question about the Lacledes Landing streets: when that area was 'reworked' into the entertainment/tourist spot it is now, they left the streets in their original condition?
Thanks for posting about this historical publication!
Topic starter
21/04/2014 3:08 pm
Judy, there are quite a good number of photos in that gallery. As for Laclede's Landing becoming more of an entertainment/tourist spot, my guess is that this took place over time, probably beginning in the 1960s with the construction of the Gateway Arch. It is my understanding that the streets are left from the earlier days when the area was a more industrialized area. The alleys probably give a better clue to the history. The alleys are paved in bricks, rather than cobblestones, and the bricks are stamped by the manufacturer. Thanks to a historic preservation grant from the Federal government (several years behind) the streets are finally being spruced up. The intersection street crossings will now be ADA compliant, but the cobblestones are indeed being saved and reused. And, that is a slow process to re-set all of the stones. But, for the first time in decades, driving on the restored streets will no longer be lead to a car realignment!
21/04/2014 10:40 pm
St Louis Riverfront Trivia
Thanks, Darin, for the interesting link! The pictures of the cobblestones on the St. Louis levee remind me that, many years ago, Ruth Ferris (1897-1993), my patron saint of steamboating, was actually arrested for removing a loose ringbolt from the levee. She had to appear in court and, when all the "smoke" cleared, Ruth was given permission to keep the ringbolt! It was in the backyard of her Brentwood home, along with some cobblestones, until Ruth and her sister, Frances, sold the house in 1991.
Topic starter
23/04/2014 6:27 pm
Alley brick from Laclede's Landing
Earlier in this thread, I mentioned how the bricks that pave the streets of Lacledes Landing were stamped with information. As you can see in this photo, the bricks in this particular stretch of Claymorgan Alley were made in 1901 by the Culver Block company. It was probably laid there when the building it is next to was built in that same year. The bulk of the buildings that are there now were built between 1870 and 1905.
Topic starter
24/04/2014 6:43 pm
New article on cobblestone project
Apparently the media is finally discovering Laclede's Landing. Here's a new article on the cobblestone repair: After delays, Laclede's Landing getting smoother ride with reset cobblestones : News The article somewhat touches on the confusion that downtown construction has caused. But, what is rather surprising is the very limited scope of the project. Apparently, it is just 2 blocks of the overall district for now. I hope that the $1.46 million isn't just to do those 2 blocks, but rather the entire project.