Old North St. Louis

If you travel north from downtown St. Louis it fees like you're heading into a different city. The fancy stadiums and ballparks are far in the rearview mirror. Gone are the manicured grounds of the Gateway Arch. Instead you see blocks of abandoned homes and lots that are home to nothing but piles or rubble or grass.

I was passing through and had to pull over and stop at the remains of this old church - The St. Augustine Catholic Church. It was built in 1896, but closed in 1982 as the congregation dwindled. The church was sold and used by a different congregations for a few years. But then the church would be permanently closed, and left abandoned. The building would suffer several fires and was almost entirely torn down in 2024, except for the steeple. It still stands as a reminder of the historic church that once stood here for over a century.



At one point, St. Louis was the fourth largest city in the country and had a population of over 800,000 people. But now the city has a population of around 300,000. The drop in population seems to have hit the neighborhoods of north St. Louis the hardest.



I'm not an expert on St. Louis by any means, and I've been trying to do some research on this area. According to the website "Built St. Louis," this area declined for several reasons - like unemployment, middle-class flight, racism, population loss, housing age, highway construction, redlining and negative perceptions.





It's surprising to see so many abandoned homes, especially in an area so close to downtown. It seems like it would be an ideal place for redevelopment.





It was sad and eerie, but it makes you wonder what these neighborhoods were like in the past. Back when the streets weren't quiet and empty. Back when the abandoned homes weren't empty and crumbling. When this area was filled with people and life.