Mercantile Bank and the Ghost of the Ambassador
A New Home for Mercantile Bank In 1973 Mercantile Bank had 1500 employees scattered among 12 buildings around downtown St. Louis. The company thought that consolidating operations into one building […]
Author Archives: nicklemen
Before and After in McKinley Heights
A series of loud banging sounds woke me up. I thought it was the trash truck. When I go to work I usually drive the same way out of my […]
Non-History Update
I’ve fallen a bit behind with my St. Louis History Blog updates. A new job and other things have made it difficult to find the time to write. But never […]
Kate Chopin
Catherine O’Flaherty, later known as Kate Chopin, was born on February 8, 1850 in St. Louis, Missouri. Her father was an Irish immigrant and her mother had cultural ties to Louisiana […]
Mark Twain’s Life on the Mississippi
Below is Chapter IV of Mark Twain’s Life on the Mississippi. I happened to pick up the book this last week and thought its references to St. Louis would make […]
May 5: Today in St. Louis History
One hundred and six years ago, at eleven in the morning, Red St. Clair and his fellow St. Louis Times newsboys posed for this photograph. Of course I’m not sure […]
The Death of Tito
Thirty-six years ago today on May 4, 1980, Josip Broz Tito, President of Yugoslavia, died due to gangrene, a complication of circulatory problems in his legs. He had served as […]
Monday Meditation: 1896 St. Louis Streetcar Map
This is a map showing the streetcar routes that existed in St. Louis in 1896. It’s pretty. It’s interesting to contemplate the vitality and upward trajectory that this map represents, […]
Allen Avenue
I took these photos last year and since then they have just been sitting around inside my computer. This is every building on Allen Avenue in McKinley Heights. McKinley Heights […]
Postcards: Chimpanzees at the Zoo
I found these postcards for sale recently and instantly decided I had to buy them. The postcards date from 1950 and they show a side of the St. Louis Zoo that I had never seen before.
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