by Michael R. Allen
Tucked alongside a commercial building, sometimes obscured by trees and with a partly collapsed roof, the one-story flounder house at 2704 Cass Avenue evades attention. Yet the small house’s craftsmanship shows in details like the dentillated cornice on the side elevation. There are signs that the front originally had a wooden or galvanized cornice, but the chance that anyone will ever know for certain is slim. The chance that the house will survive the next decade may be slimmer still.
The house may date to 1885, but could be older. It stands on City Block 1843, bounded by Cass, Elliott, Sheridan and Leffingwell avenues — a city block that has never had an alley. This house and much of the rest of the block is owned by Northside Regeneration LLC. Once part of dense urban fabric, the little house has become doubly noteworthy: it is one of only three buildings left on this block, and one of perhaps as few as 160 remaining flounder houses in St. Louis.
One reply on “Flounder House on Cass Avenue”
What comes first, the chicken or the egg. A recent study just proved, as if it were a case that needed proving, the chicken comes first. If we had more chickens that would function as EAGLES and rise above, as EAGLES do, I dare say much needed, continued development would be on it’s way.
The longer we babble, stall, nit pick and finger point, the longer it will take to be about the business of making our dear area great again. As I mentioned earlier, areas where others have started stabalizing, makes it more attractive for others to come in and invest and continue the process. It’s good to have land mass so all can benefit, and QUALITY OF LIFE can vastly be improved. Hopefully work can soon begin, others can continue to do what they are doing and we can increase the population in the city of St. Louis one by one. Right now, we’re in a holding pattern.