Quote:
Originally Posted by brickell
Who'd have thunk it. Was this an example of slum clearing?
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no, it was however an underused warehouse/low rent district. the city fathers deemed that this underutilized 40 blocks presented an opportunity for a museum/monument to western expansion-something that had been mulled for many years before.
http://i148.photobucket.com/albums/s...and/scan-2.jpg
http://memory.loc.gov/pnp/habshaer/m...s/099211pr.jpg
http://i148.photobucket.com/albums/s...nd/stlouis.jpg
you can see in this 1875 sketch the old rock house, built in 1818 as a fur trading post - before the mansard roof addition, at the levee and chestnut.
http://www.landmarks-stl.org/images/...ts/oldrock.jpg
heres the old rock house as the oldest neighborhood in st. louis is brought down around it. it was the first one in, and the last one out. its a matter of controversy that this particular structure was brought down. Built in 1818 by Manuel Lisa who came up river from a Spanish New Orleans family, it was built as a fur warehouse. Throughout the 19th and 20th century it was a variety of things, from a sailmakers shop to a speakeasy and at one time it belonged to James Clemens, Jr., Mark Twains cousin. It was supposed to become a fur trade museum, but was eventually demolished and never rebuilt under dubious circumstances.
http://www.landmarks-stl.org/archite...is_riverfront/