by Michael R. Allen
The dwelling at 914 Madison Street on August 1, 2005.
LOCATION: 914 Madison Street; Near Old North St. Louis; Saint Louis, Missouri
DATE OF CONSTRUCTION: c. 1895
DATE OF DEMOLITION: October 2005
CURRENT OWNER: Carlos A. Johnson
Will any old residential buildings east of Interstate 70 east of Old North St. Louis be standing at the end of my life?
The answer causes me to shudder, because I see them all falling. There could be a period of industrial sprawl on these cleared lots followed by a boom in construction of condominiums spurred by developments on North Broadway. This area could give rise to towers that would block the sun’s rays from Old North St. Louis and the eyes of the neighborhood from the river.
At any rate, there were few of these buildings left east of I-70 before 914 Madison fell and now there is one less. Several others are in the path of the proposed new interchange at St. Louis Avenue. How odd that the neighborhood named for the village of North St. Louis does not include most of the village, which originally started at the river and developed westward to what is now Hadley Street. In 1816, when North St. Louis was platted, the parcel at 914 Madison lay on the village’s western frontier. Now the parcel is on the eastern frontier, one not of expansion but dissipation.
