Detail of Plate 34, Compton and Dry’s Pictorial St. Louis, 1876, Library of Congress.
Oregon Avenue between Winnebago and Miami was fairly developed in 1875 when the draughtsman came by to look at it, with a row of working class houses and orchards along its length.
Back to 2021, crossing over Winnebago Street, which I’ve looked at before back in November of 2018, we head up north up Oregon Avenue, looking at the west side of the street.
Those early houses seem to be largely gone, replaced with houses from the late Nineteenth to mid Twentieth centuries. This house below is one of two built with unique front porches.
Below, this half flounder is most likely one of the few houses visible in the 1876 Pictorial St. Louis, but its front façade has been altered with a picture window, probably in the 1950s or 60s.
More typical housing continues for the rest of the block.
The other house with a unique front porch appears.
I’m not sure what’s going on with the plastic draped over it. Perhaps there is a problem with leaks, and it is in the middle of being renovated.
Then there’s a row of good, solid “cyclops” houses, as my friends named them, which are typical of this area. The entrances are on the side for privacy, with a living room in the front.
When we reach Miami Street, we turn around, and it is striking how dramatically different the terrain is on the east side of the street is. High up on the hill is a row of Arts and Crafts bungalows in various states of repair.
When Oregon was cut through by the City, there must have been a massive amount of dirt and maybe even bedrock removed to get to the correct grade for the street.
As I’ve often said, it’s interesting to see how a group of houses that were clearly built at the same time have all taken different paths over the last century.
The street and the houses start to come closer to the same level further south down the east side of the block, though there still is a large difference.
There are some beautiful homes, but still a little abandonment.
This house right here is very old, and I wonder what its story is. It predates the four-families built on on Winnebago to the right.
