Oh, boy, do I remember Griffith School Elementary school picnics at Chain of Rocks Amusement Park in North St. Louis County (right near the Chain of Rocks Bridge, along the Mississippi River). Who can forget the anticipation as we got closer to the big day? Who can forget racing for the Mad Mouse roller-coaster, ready […]
This video comes from KETC and features a nostalgic look back at the ’50s, ’60s, and ’70s in North County. The video is based on Cruizin’ North County, a book by Craig Kaintz and Bill Kasalko. Even though I wasn’t born until 1960, a lot of the memories they share ring true for me too. […]
“In the early 1950s,” writes St. Louis blogger Toby Weiss, “Jennings, Missouri was a red hot White Flight destination, just a scootch outside the St. Louis city limits proper. “ She goes on: ‘Newfangled’ is the correct word to describe the new homes and businesses that were built at a rapid clip, designed in the modern […]
Continue reading about Another Great Mall Gone: Northland Shopping Center
Last week, I discussed the development of St. Ann, an inner-ring St. Louis County suburb. Perhaps St. Ann’s greatest claim to fame is Northwest Plaza. Now defunct, Northwest Plaza was, in its heyday, perhaps the grandest place to shop in the St. Louis metropolitan area. And by “heyday,” I don’t mean its peak years as […]
Continue reading about St. Louis Icon No More: Northwest Plaza
For the past three weeks, I’ve been providing highlights from Colin Gordon’s provocative study, Mapping Decline: St. Louis and the Fate of the American City (Penn Press, 2008). This week, I thought I’d take a look at what Gordon has to say about Wellston and about Wagner Electric. Gordon traces the development and then abandonment […]
Continue reading about Mapping Decline: What Colin Gordon Has to Say about Wellston
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