Detail of Plate 33, Compton and Dry’s Pictorial St. Louis, 1876, Library of Congress.
As we cross over Keokuk Street heading north on Oregon Avenue, we pop out on Compton and Dry’s 1876 Pictorial St. Louis. I always remind people that while our city was founded in 1764, the vast majority of the built environment was constructed in the Twentieth Century! Oregion Avenue was an idea in 1875 when the surveyors walked the St. Louis Commons, and not a reality yet in between Keokuk and Chippewa streets. Remember, the City of St. Louis made property owners pay for the construction of streets in front of their house, so many people delayed the inevitable, preferring “cow paths” for the time being. I’ve actually seen some of the levies the City charged property owners.
But one house that you can clearly see right there on the northwest corner of Keokuk and Oregon is still standing, though it has obviously undergone an interesting transformation from an 1860s-70s Greek Revival row house to a more 1950s or 60s suburban home. The front façade was replace with new brickwork and fenestration and a new, taller gabled entrance and dormer. And look at those round, porthole windows with glass blocks.
Past the house, we go to more “normal” Dutchtown-style houses, which is a mix of early Twentieth Century architectural forms.
But there are some post-Civil War styles, such as the Second Empire, which you see below.
And those ubiquitous Arts and Crafts two-families which are everywhere.
And with that, we reach the commercial corridor of Chippewa, which marks our border with the Gravois Park neighborhood to the north.
Turning around and heading south looking at the east side of the street, there are more multi-family houses, such as this one below.
There seems to be some evidence of rehabbing going on, as well.
And then, wow, look at this old survivor, which may be visible in the Pictorial St. Louis view above. I’m not sure, but its placement and form looks right. It is very old, nonetheless.
Then we’re back to Keokuk Street with its plethora of four-families.
