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The Mansard Roof in Benton Park
One of the things that I love about Benton Park is the wild mish-mash of architectural influences. Walking through the neighborhood, you’ll see all sorts of things mixed together, and all realized in good old St Louis red brick. My favorite architectural theme in the neighborhood has to be the Second Empire mansard roof. But…
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Winter in St Louis, and thoughts on being a Neighbor
We’ve been enduring pretty harsh weather these past few days here in St Louis. We’ve been buried under a foot of snow, which is really more than the city can handle. But even harder to face has been the extreme cold. Temperatures have been dropping down to around 5°F every day. Brr! At first I…
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Memories from 1938: A Little Girl’s Life Uncovered
One day, while cleaning out the basement, I found a small box. It contained carefully-saved items that provided a glimpse back to the year 1938, and into the life of a little girl. The box held possessions of Helen Hartoebben, 14 years old in 1938, and newly graduated from the 8th grade. In the box…
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Welcome to Sidney Street!
It began with a few artifacts we discovered tucked away in the basement—small reminders of the people who once called this house home. Those discoveries sparked our curiosity: Who were the families that lived here before us? What were their lives like, and how did their stories shape the neighborhood we see today? As we…