I find this enjoyable but Darren wasn't in the mood today when I turned a corner in east St. Louis, hit a piece of extended rebar from a crumbling sewer cover and blew out a tire. Whoops.
The back story: Last week I was driving along St Claire Ave in East STL when I detoured onto a side street to view the housing stock and saw an abandoned Mediterranean Revival school that had - I thought - orange limestone.
That was really exciting. Limestone was mined and I couldn't grasp what mineral had infiltrated it to produce the orange color. I didn't get out of the car to inspect the building and a week later realized I had been hilariously betrayed by my vision.
When we eventually arrived at our destination I discovered it was an orange glaze on the terra cotta which resonated with the barrel tiles on the roof.
It is exquisite.
We were driving through what was left of a neighborhood. Many of the homes had been razed. Traces of alleys remained, now paths, and sometimes I saw brick pavers but the alleys has been abandoned. Roll out carts were in use on the streets. Every street had deep and numerous potholes.
I stopped to photo an architectural relic and my favorite street hardware: a manhole cover with concentric circles. I was sneezing when I got back into the car and Darren asked if I was allergic to poverty. I sighed.
I saw a telephone phone that had snapped near its base.
We took a right back onto St Claire, I encountered the rebar and boom: an instant flat. I called Triple A then Darren and I strolled the area. I gathered and admired rocks from the train tracks that were laden with minerals: mica and pyrite.
Darren was bored and found an abandoned off ramp behind a chain link fence. A white man driving a utility truck called out to us asking if we were OK. You're in a really bad neighborhood he said. Why, I said to Darren, because only black people live here? We're fine, I told the driver. I have a lot of cash on me, Darren said, all worried we were going to be robbed. Again, I sighed.
An hour later a Forgiveness Truck pulled up and left the engine running the entire 20 minutes it took to change the tire. I'm reflected in its window.
We were now enroute to the Orange School as I was calling it.
I wonder if Michael Allen knows about this Darren wondered as we wandered the parameter of the compound.
Slate steps, I announced as we examined the disintegrating staircase.
Click on any photo to embiggen.
Snapped utility pole:
The Church of East St. Louis.
Excelsior Manhole cover.
Abandoned alley:
Abandoned brick:
Abandoned sycamore:
Abandoned infrastructure maintenance: Exposed rebar:
Abandoned off ramp:
Abandoned flat:
Cute squat hydrant. Working condition unknown but pointless in the midst of abandonment.
The tracks with mineral rich rocks. Thanks Universe!
Thank God I'm Forgiven! So it says on the door.
St Patrick's School and Church:
The gorgeous orange glaze.
Crumbling slate steps. Slate has always been a bad choice for a building material. Sure, slate roofs had up to 50 year life before replacement. That's a good record but slate steps were a bad choice :
The range of color to the bricks chosen for this building represent vision. The muted colors make the orange glaze pop:
15 comments:
There is another school in the STL area with the same glazed terra cotta, but for the life of me I can't remember where it is located. Oh, well, maybe my wife and I will stumble upon it...again. (Which would make it the third time)
Mike F: Are you thinking of the school on State Street? If so it's also completely abandoned and the roof is gone.
No, the building we saw was in excellent shape, and in use. I'm thinking Alton, but we also go hiking at Taum Sauk, and some other State Parks in that area, soooo...it could be anywhere in the dozens of places we've been. Damn, this is going to drive me nuts...
Sounds like quite a trip! I love all of the photography here, but my favorite from this post is the manhole cover. Great find!
Thanks stlexplorer! I was smitten by the manhole cover also. Perhaps someday we can go exploring together. I'm so pleased you take the time to stop by.
Nice tour, yeah I haven't wandered around East St. Louis in awhile, although I was not far from the area not long ago. I was trying to find the site of the old packing yard, actually I was looking for Robertson Farm Supply, turns out they moved from a now demolished probably 1890's building to a new warehouse building totally without character.
East St. Louis was a nice town, not too long ago either.
b
St. Francis Borgia, in Washington, MO. My wife and I go out there to Thierbach Farms to pick blueberries (and others), and that's when we saw the 'other' school with the same orange terra cotta.
Beautiful school and amazing brickwork. Hope it finds a new purpose some day soon.
stumbled on this page. nice capturing man. i'm a lover of old architecture too
Thanks Kevin Mock. This was my favorite post ev. It's tragic that the school is slowly falling apart.
btw, I'm a woman not a man ;)
The Orange School is the old St. Patrick's Grade School on Summit Avenue (off of St. Clair Avenue) in East St. Louis
Illinois. I student-taught there in the early 1980s.
(Try Google Maps).
Kathleen Baron Pritchett
O'fallon, Illinois
Wow, Kathleen!
To have been inside of it must have been wonderful. If you see this comment and are interested I'd love if you wrote about your experiences teaching there!
It was a wonderful experience for a student teacher. We were supervised by the nuns who were very understanding and helpful. I always enjoyed eating lunch with the ladies (nuns) because they were so honest and refreshing in their perspectives.
The interior if I remember correctly was rather plain. But, there were glazed bricks in the hallways. And, of course it had that 'old school' smell: paper, varnish, glue. Everywhere inside the school was clean and orderly. The students were use recycled paper, crayons, glue, etc. which helped. (I brought used office paper for coloring time.)
I seem to remember a pretty courtyard in the middle of the school.
All of the basic subjects were taught in 1st grade. And,it was expected that the student would learn no matter how challenging. Older students from the upper grades were assigned to younger students who were having a difficult time in any given subject. It was done is such a kind and helpful way. And, of course, religion was taught.
The classrooms were large, but I remember the class I taught within had about 60 first-graders. We had them stacked everywhere! Now, the State of Illinois would not allow such numbers. But, I always remember all of the students from young to oldest, had such manners and respect. They were such happy kids who were full of love. And, St. Patrick's did not have many disciplinary problems. (Yes, the nuns could give a student the 'stink eye' one time and then, very few problems after that.)
Once, I had a tour of the old nuns quarters: very small bedrooms with a bed, table and desk with light. At one time, I suppose the school had many sisters teaching there and all the classrooms were open. There were about 30 of these bedrooms.
One older nun who I often chatted with told me how she hated the her heavy habit and all of the bells & whistles to it she had to wear. She told me hers was a dark brown color with several layers. She only had 2 complete habits. At the end of the day (especially after recess duty) , she would be drenched in sweat and had to hand wash her habit each evening. (She was very glad after 1965, the full habits were not required anymore for her order.)
I would daydream at times, imagining how the school looked and sounded in the 1930s, 40s and 50s. I did not go to a Catholic school during my elementary education, but my husband did. He told me many stories of his elementary days' antics. In the 50s, the tuition very very low per child. In the 80s, when my children went to a Catholic grade school,it was $225 per month for of my daughters. Now, it is like paying college tuition (especially in the St. Louis Catholic schools). The neighborhood was nice and full of wonderful people too. Often,the mothers or grandparents would help out during the day.
In all, it was one of my best teaching experiences. Today, modern school buildings do not seem to have the 'soul' of older buildings from past times. All the older buildings which had several floors are being torn down for the flat, sectioned type building. (Of course, fire regulations, etc dictate that.) It would be nice to find if someone has documented older schools in photographs.
Kathleen Pritchett
Thanks, Kathleen.
I appreciate you taking the time to write about your experiences at the school.
I've created a post with your 'article' and photos of the school.
I will try to obtain some inside photos :)
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