Period II: The Victorian City and The Street car

1870-1900

Religious Buildings

Gothic Revival Style
The Gothic Revival style continued to be popular for church buildings in the Victorian period. The style became traditionally associated with ecclesiastical architecture: remnants of Gothic forms-pointed arch openings, multiple light windows and slender towers, for example-still appear in contemporary church design. The form of the Gothic Revival church did not alter a great deal during the Victorian period. The most significant change was in material: the Victorian Gothic Revival was built in stone rather than brick. The scale of the individual buildings also increased.

The St. Alphonsus Liguori Church (the "Rock Church"), was designed by Reverend Louis Dold in 1867, with the front tower added in 1894. The rough-faced limestone church has a centrally placed steeple that rises 237 feet. On both ends of the front facade, smaller towers and slender buttresses with pinnacles pierce the sharply pitched roof. Windows, with stone tracery, are set beneath pointed arches. On each side elevation, the roof is pierced by windows in a trefoil shape. The church's slender, soaring verticality exemplifies the best of Victorian Gothic Revival.

Baroque Revival Style
The Baroque Revival is a church style rarely seen in St. Louis. It was a 19th century revival of the European Baroque style (1600-1750), and like its predecessor, rejects the formal, geometric classical forms in favor of verticality, irregular shapes and highly sculptural decoration.

The Shrine of St. Joseph was originally built in 1848, making it a Period I church; the eight bays of the side facades, each containing a tall round-headed window set within a recessed arch, recall the design of the Old Cathedral. Its new front facade and double towers, added in 1881, are in an aggressively Baroque Revival style by Adolphus Druiding, an architect who worked in both St. Louis and Cleveland. The front facade of the Shrine has a central portal and tympanum, flanked by smaller lateral entries. Above is centered a recessed niche containing a statue of St. Joseph, under a high shaped parapet. Each of the two bell towers is square, carrying a full stone cornice at each story. Above the roof, the towers become octagonal, and have lancet openings. Originally, each also had a high bell-cast roof and cupola, removed in 1954.

Romanesque Revival Style
The Romanesque Revival style remained popular for church construction into the Victorian era. The primary difference was in scale: churches grew dramatically in size. St. Stanislaus Kostka church was constructed in 1891, from designs by Wessbecher and Hummel of St. Louis. The red brick church features a symmetrical front facade, with two large towers at each end. The front facade has a projecting center bay with front gable, rose window and center portal. Each tower has small lancet windows and octagonal cupolas. Typical Romanesque corbelling outlines the parapets and cupolas.

Richardsonian Romanesque Style
The Richardsonian Romanesque style was prevalent in church design during the Victorian period, primarily as a result of the widespread influence of Richardson's Trinity Church, in Boston. The Richardsonian church is best described as displaying bold stone-work, complex roof patterns and predominantly arched openings.

The Second Presbyterian Church, located at the corner of Taylor and Westminster Place in the Central West End, was designed in 1900 by Theodore Link. Set on a high foundation, the rusticated limestone church has a massive central tower with projecting gables and small corner turrets. The primary facade has a large front gable, and flanking pyramidal roofed towers.

Shingle Style
This style is seen much more frequently in residential architecture; however, a few Shingle style churches did appear in St. Louis. Generally similar in form to residential buildings, and smaller in scale than other churches of the period, they exhibit the same motives: shingled wall surfaces; recessed porches and steeply-pitched front gables.

The Way of Life Church, originally the Marvin Memorial Methodist Church, at 2528 S. 12th Street was constructed before 1890. The first story is brick; shingles cover gables, dormers and the dramatic bell tower. A large front gable faces 12th Street; entry is through the bell tower under a rusticated stone porch. The tower itself is a simple design, with large segmental openings and a pyramidal roof.

Social Clubs

An important part of late 19th century culture in St. Louis were the many social clubs around the city. The clubs served a variety of ethnic, social, professional and cultural functions. We know of few pre-1900 club buildings that have not been demolished.

An example of a very popular German-American club building is the St. Louis Turnverein at 1930 Salisbury Street, in Hyde Park. Many German societies had been in existence since the 1840's, and included benevolent associations, singing clubs, craft unions and the Turnverein, or gymnastic societies, which emphasized body building, fellowship and sometimes political activities. Also called the North St. Louis Turners Hall, this symmetrical brick building was constructed about 1880. The two-story symmetrical brick building has an unusual mansard roof with three pyramidal towers. The first story has a center entry leading to the club rooms on the second floor; adjacent bays contain storefronts, which provided rental income to support the club's activities. The building contains several meeting halls, an auditorium, a large gymnasium and bowling alley in the basement.

Government Structures

During the Victorian period, many significant government structures were constructed in St. Louis, representing a variety of Victorian architectural styles.

Second Empire Style
The Second Empire style was popularized in the United States as a result of a fascination with French culture among the educated elite in the middle 19th century. The Old Post Office, filling the city block bounded by 8th, 9th, Olive and Locust Streets was constructed over a ten year period, from 1875 to 1884. Designed by U.S. government architect Alfred Mullet, the brick and cast iron building is an important example of cast iron Second Empire design, which was used in numerous Federal government court and custom houses during the last quarter of the 19th century. The building's most imposing feature is the high curved mansard roof of the projecting center bay on the Olive Street elevation. Windows are arranged in a hierarchical pattern: segmentally arched on the second story, pedimented on the third and round arched at the top. The building is articulated with a wealth of detailing, including a sculptural group by Daniel Chester French.

Renaissance Revival Style
St. Louis City Hall, at the corner of 12th and Market Streets was constructed between 1892 and 1904. The building was designed by the architectural firm of Eckel and Mann, from St. Joseph, Missouri, and is a traditional representation of Renaissance Revival.

Inspired by the Hotel de Ville in France (Paris City Hall), the building is an open rectangle with interior light court. The ground story is constructed of dressed pink granite, the upper stories of yellow brick and sandstone. City Hall has three articulated street facades; the primary facade on Tucker Boulevard has a projecting central bay containing paired entrances recessed beneath compound arches. An arcade of granite columns with pillow capitals flanks the entry. A variety of dormers and towers pierce the high-pitched tile roof. (Several additional towers, including a two-story clock tower, were removed in 1934.) The four-story rotunda on the interior of the building has a marble double staircase and open balconies at each floor.

Richardsonian Romanesque Style
Richardsonian Romanesque architecture was also found in government structures and was especially popular for police stations in the Victorian period: the obvious masculinity of this style was appropriate to an image of authority and strength. The former 7th District Police Station, constructed at 2300 S. Grand Avenue around the turn of the century, is a typical example. The heavy arched, rough-cut stone entry, at the northwest corner of the front facade, is the major decorative element; the rest of the facades are simply articulated. Windows have rectangular sandstone lintels; a narrow band of corbelling is set at the parapet, which is interrupted by a low mansard roof, with a center arched dormer. The original police stable is located to the right.

The former Fire House No. 26, at 2100 N. Second Street, also reflects Richardsonian influence. Constructed in 1887, the building has a high-pitched hipped roof and semi-circular projecting bay, containing an entry recessed beneath a round, rough-faced sandstone arch. The larger entry for fire wagons is also semi-circular, and surrounded by heavy, cut brick molding.

Other Government Buildings

Public Market
The first block laid out by Laclède in 1764 was intended as the town square, for meetings of the militia and public gatherings. It also contained St. Louis' first public market, where farmers and other vendors displayed and sold their goods. We know little about this first market building, other than by 1827 it was considered too small and replaced two years later by a much larger structure, that also accommodated the first City Hall. (St. Louis had received a town charter in 1823, but had only limited taxing authority, drastically curtailing the scope of public improvements.) As the City's size increased, additional markets were constructed, further from the center of town. One of the oldest remaining public markets is the Reservoir Market, at 2616 North 22nd Street, from about 1865. The two-story building has a tall gable front facing the street, divided into three bays by shallow recessed arches, a motif that continues on both secondary facades. Each arch contains a segmental arched window at both stories. Simple corbelling outlines gable and parapets. The building is used today by a local industry.

Commercial Structures

Central Business District Cast Iron
While the use of iron for commercial buildings began before the Civil War, it was not until afterward that its full impact in architecture was felt. Initially cast iron was used for decorative elements on residential buildings; soon it appeared in ground floor storefronts. During the 1870's, the use of cast iron construction became widespread: it was believed that cast iron was more fire-resistant than masonry or heavy timber construction. The use of cast iron allowed for buildings larger in scale, with larger expanses of glass.

Most commonly, cast iron was used on three and four-story buildings. 720 North 2nd Street is an excellent example of the changes this new construction technology made possible. The building's front facade is primarily glass, with only a minimal amount of wall surface: the cast iron columns of the storefront are slender and delicate, with classically-inspired capitals. The large windows are two-over-two, and cast iron cornices are placed above storefront and parapet.

The full development of the cast iron commercial building is exemplified by Raeder Place, at 721-27 North 1st Street. The building was constructed in 1875, the design of William Raeder, one of the leading St. Louis architects in the period after the Civil War. The building is six stories tall, and eight bays wide. Even more than the building at 720 N. 2nd Street, its structure seems to be mostly glass beneath a light screen of cast iron detail. Intermediate cornices appear at each story, supported by slender columns interspersed with paired windows. The building is crowned by a cornice of brackets and modillions.

Central Business District Masonry Buildings
The use of cast iron suffered a series of setbacks in the 1880's that led to a waning in its popularity as a construction material. It became clear after a series of disastrous fires across the country that cast iron was not as impervious as once thought, and in fact melted at high temperatures. For a brief period, load-bearing masonry became once again the preferred method of commercial construction.

Richardsonian Romanesque Style
Although Richardson designed no commercial structures in St. Louis (his firm was responsible for three residences), the Richardsonian style was influential with local architects, who frequently borrowed both his handling of form and his detailing. The Richardsonian Romanesque style was pervasive in commercial design for a brief period from about 1888 to 1894. During that time numerous buildings in St. Louis and throughout the country referenced Richardson's work in Boston and Chicago. The same characteristics that define Richardsonian house design-bold, rough-faced stone; deep window recesses; and heavy, round arches-distinguish Richardsonian commercial buildings.

The Bell Telephone Company Building (now the Hartley B. Comfort Building), located at the corner of 10th and Olive Streets is perhaps the best example of Richardsonian commercial design standing in St. Louis. The building was designed by H.H. Richardson's successor firm, Shepley, Rutan and Coolidge, after Richardson's death in 1890. The seven-story building has load-bearing masonry walls, and illustrates a classic device of Richardsonian commercial design: strongly-marked vertical bays; arches rising several stories; and window stacked in patterns whose arrangement is reordered and recombined at every story. The building's primary window configuration is a paired window with transoms. This window is doubled on the second and third stories, single under a round arch on the fourth; in threes on the fifth. The sixth story groups the window in fours, under smaller arches; and the top story has smaller paired windows in twos. Throughout, the building displays a variety of rough-faced sandstone detail.

The Lambert Pharmaceutical Building, at 2007-10 Locust, is another fine example of the Richardsonian style. Designed by Thomas Annan in 1891 (Samuel Sherer added several bays to the west in 1902), the building is four stories tall and sits on a rusticated sandstone base. Paired windows of the second and third stories are arranged vertically in bays, and capped with large semi-circular transoms set under heavy brick arches.

Late Victorian Design
Late Victorian commercial design filled a transitional period from the decline of traditional, load-bearing masonry buildings with their massive wall surface and classically-derived decorative elements, and look toward the rise of the modern tall office building, which began with the use of steel frame construction in the last decade of the 19th century.

The Merchants Laclede Building, at 408 Olive, designed by Stephen D. Hatch, was constructed in 1889. Widely advertised as a "fireproof" building, it has a wrought iron frame with hollow brick firewalls behind its facade brick. The building is an early attempt to organize exterior elements of a tall office building as if it were a giant column, with articulated base, shaft and capital. This device was soon to become conventional in tall building design. The first two stories of the Merchant Laclede (the base) are stone, with the six upper stories in brick. The verticality of the "shaft" is emphasized with pilasters that extend from the third story to the parapet, and by a semi-circular projecting corner bay. A pyramidal tower and a turret at each corner once projected above the building's roof line, and gave the Merchants-Laclede a far more Victorian appearance than it has today.

Tall Office Buildings
A watershed in the development of the office building occurred in the early 1890's. With advancing technology, it became apparent that steel, because of its structural strength and its ability to withstand fire, was a preferable structural material to cast or wrought iron. The development of steel frame construction (a skeleton of steel beams and columns that forms the structural support for the building) meant that exterior walls were no longer required to carry the building's weight: they became "curtain" walls and could be made from a variety of materials and organized in a number of different ways. In addition, the steel frame allowed buildings of many more stories than masonry construction. Steel made possible the first truly new property type in centuries: the tall office building. Searching for an appropriate vocabulary to express these new buildings, a talented group of architects in Chicago succeeded in revolutionizing commercial design.

Sullivanesque
Louis Sullivan was the first to successfully express this modern architectural vocabulary. He felt that the new building type called for the creation of a national style, eschewing European precedents. The exterior of the new office building should reflect its interior structure, and interior functions as well. Ornament, where it was used, must be derived from Nature, rejecting classical references and the ubiquitous arches. To articulate the building's interior structure, Sullivan used a pier and spandrel system: narrow vertical members rise from the ground story at the location of the steel columns; horizontal panels between these piers are placed at floor locations. Although Sullivan did not design the first steel frame building, he was responsible for the first in St. Louis, the Wainwright Building.

The Wainwright Building, 101 North 7th Street, was designed in 1890 by Sullivan and his partner Dankmar Adler. Although not a complete realization of Sullivan's philosophy, the building is nevertheless one of the first great expressions of the new American building type, and a masterpiece of Sullivan's work. When constructed, the Wainwright was surrounded by office buildings of similar scale, and not isolated as it is today. But its exterior design was radically different for St. Louis, and appeared almost severe in comparison with other downtown buildings. The Wainwright has the three-part system of base, shaft and capital: the first two stories, commercial space, are expressed as a base devoid of ornament, except for large, deeply recessed windows. Through the next seven stories, the offices, narrow piers extend without interruption; decorative spandrels are set at each floor level. The capital formed by the upper story, a service area, is a continuous band of Sullivan's signature intertwined ornament, pierced by small porthole windows. The Wainwright Building is a National Historic Landmark, the highest designation given by the Department of the Interior.

The Union Trust Building, 705 Olive, designed by Adler and Sullivan in collaboration with St. Louis architect Charles Ramsey, was constructed at the corner of Seventh and Olive Streets in 1893. The Union Trust has a yellow brick and terra cotta sheathing. The original two stories of commercial space (greatly altered in 1924) form a giant base upon which rises a ten-story office tower and exterior light court, with the same pier and spandrel system found in the Wainwright building. The upper two stories and attic are unified by bands of windows, separated by slender columns with foliated capitals. The elaborate spandrel panels have an abundance of Sullivan ornament and terra cotta lion heads. A replica addition to the building, by the St. Louis firm of Eames and Young, lengthened the 7th Street facade in 1905.

The influence of the Wainwright and Union Trust buildings was immense. Many downtown office buildings designed later by local firms were inspired by Sullivan's work. The Rand, Johnson and Rand Building, now called the International Shoe Building, at 1509 Washington, was designed by Theodore Link in 1909. It is a restatement of Sullivan's Wainwright Building, with a heavy base, slender multi-story pier columns and naturalistic ornament, although restrained by the influence of the later Art Nouveau style.

Chicago Style Office Buildings
For a brief period during the 1890's, Adler and Sullivan office design was a standard in St. Louis. By the turn of the century, however, the work of a number of other Chicago architects had come to influence the tall office building. The Chicago style, as their work came to be known, stressed verticality and an increased emphasis on the external representation of interior structure, and came to revolutionize the design of downtown office buildings.

The Chemical Building, at 722 Olive Street, was constructed in 1896 by Chicago architect Henry Ives Cobb, with a matching addition constructed in 1903. The building displays some of the last cast iron detailing in St. Louis. The commercial space of the ground floor is cast iron, with red brick and terra cotta on upper stories. Influenced by Holabird and Roche's Tacoma Building in Chicago, the Chemical Building is an atypical Chicago Style example because it does not utilize the characteristic pier and spandrel system. Instead, the building features undulating bays of oriel windows. Compared to earlier office buildings, the facade appears lighter and more like a decorative screen for the building's interior structure. This structure is still expressed by brick piers between sets of windows; however in this instance, the floor levels are heavily emphasized with ornamental string courses above and below each row of windows, in counterpoint to the building's verticality.

Other Commercial Buildings

Department Store
Department stores began to spring up in cities all over the country during the 1860's and 1870's, offering for sale a variety of consumer products, and combining in a single building goods once carried only in individual hardware, drygoods, clothing, and other specialty stores.

The former May Company Department Store, now known as 555 Washington Avenue, began as the Italianate Bradford-Martin building, designed by Francis D. Lee with Thomas B. Annan in 1875. At the turn of the century, it was purchased by the D. Crawford Drygoods Company who commissioned Weber and Groves to create an elegant department store. The May Company, an early St. Louis drygoods concern, acquired the building in 1904. The five-story structure, with elaborate Renaissance Revival detailing, is dominated by Weber and Groves' dramatic central bay on Washington Avenue, where the entry is deeply recessed beneath a highly ornamented half-dome. The exterior of the building was meticulously restored to its early appearance in 1987, including reinstallation of its missing cornice.

Neighborhood Commercial
The same technology that influenced downtown commercial design came to impact smaller commercial buildings in St. Louis' outlying neighborhoods. Cast iron became standard storefront material during the first part of the Victorian Period. The glass area of the storefront continued to expand, while the structural members became taller and more slender.

The building at 1000 Geyer, in Soulard, is a good example. The height of the storefront dominates the building: tall, ornamental cast iron posts support an overscaled lintel detailed as a full entablature. With the exception of the mansard roof and its profusion of dormers, the rest of the building is relatively simple and takes a clearly secondary visual role.

At the intersections of major streets, larger commercial buildings were constructed, composed of rows of storefronts, with residential and occasionally office space above. The building at 1923-37 Park Avenue, in Lafayette Square, is an example of the expanded commercial block. The three-story building features as many as five separate commercial spaces on the ground floor. In comparison with the somewhat later 1000 Geyer, the commercial first story of this building has less impact, and its appearance is much closer to that of nearby residences.

Schools

Public Schools
The public school system continued to expand during the Victorian period. With this expansion came new and larger facilities. The Blair School, at 2707 Rauschenbach Avenue, near St. Louis Place, was designed by School Board Architect August Kirchner, in 1881. The three-story red brick building has a five part plan, with a projecting six-bay central block, flanked by three-story wings. The school has the mansard roof and bracketed cornice of the Second Empire style, combined with Italianate influence in tall, narrow windows under segmental arches.

The Mount Pleasant School, was also designed by August Kirchner. Constructed in 1896, it, like the Blair School, is representative of late 19th century school design, and a mixture of stylistic influences. The central portion of the three-story building projects out from the facade; an intermediate terra cotta cornice with dentils and ornate window heads of the second story evoke the Renaissance Revival, while the multi-light windows and projecting cornice look to the Arts and Crafts movement.

Private Schools
As the City's population expanded, so did the number of parochial schools. St. Elizabeth's Academy, at Tennessee and Crittenden, in the Tower Grove East neighborhood, was constructed in 1882. The three-story red brick building is similar in design to the Evangelical Bethlehem Lutheran School of Period I, with a central projecting bay containing the entry, extending the full height of the building to end in a high pyramidal roof. The central bay carries most of the building's decoration: paired windows under segmental arches have stone imposts and keystones at second and third stories, and corner pilasters. The symmetrical blocks of the building on either side have windows set beneath Tudor arches, and a corbel table at the parapet.

Transportation Structures

By the Victorian period the railroad industry was a major force in the U.S. economy, shaping many cities, including St. Louis. Three important railroad projects were completed in St. Louis during the Victorian period.

Railroad Stations
Located on Market Street, between 18th and 20th streets, Union Station is one of the most recognizable buildings in St. Louis. Designed by Theodore Link in 1890, the asymmetrical Richardsonian Romanesque station is constructed of alternating wide and narrow courses of stone. Important architectural features include a high pitched hipped roof; a tall clock tower at the building's eastern block; a series of massive arched entries along Market Street, and a profusion of pinnacles and wall dormers. The Grand Hall, the former waiting room, and a series of other ornately-decorated rooms highlight the interior of the building. Union Station at the time of its construction was one of the largest terminals ever built; the train shed, by George H. Pegram, the largest of its kind.

Steel Suspension Bridge
The Eads Bridge, constructed in 1874, was the first steel suspension bridge in the world, and the first to span the Mississippi River. The bridge was the work of James Buchanan Eads, and was the only bridge he ever designed. Its structure consists of granite-faced limestone piers sunk into the riverbed, which are attached to tubular steel trusses supporting both vehicular and railroad decks. The use of steel instead of traditional cast iron was revolutionary, and laid the groundwork for later advances in engineering technology.

Railroad Tunnel
In 1874, along with Eads bridge, a railroad tunnel was constructed under downtown from the train depot, then at 11th and Poplar Streets, to the foot of Eads Bridge. The tunnel itself is constructed of brick and stone, with cast iron supports. Today, like Eads Bridge, the railroad tunnel is used by Metro-Link.

Street Car Structures
During the Victorian period, omnibuses and later street cars became an important part of life for city residents. Public transportation allowed the development of residential neighborhoods outside the core city. One of the few remaining St. Louis structures associated with the street car is the Street Car Transformer Station, at 5100 Delmar Boulevard. Like many public structures of this period, the building's utilitarian purpose was deliberately disguised-transformed into a romantic Victorian conceit: in this case, a Romanesque castle. The street facade of the building is tall and narrow, and has three bays; its primary element a projecting, battlemented tower with blind lancet windows and heavy corbelling. Flanking bays have low brick gables and pilasters. Side facades are six bays of tall arched windows, arranged in pairs. The actual entrance to the building was at the rear.

Utilities Structures

Until 1832, when the City's first pumping station was built, residents drew their water by hand from the Mississippi River. Although greatly expanded in the 1850's, the City's water system was constantly straining to keep up with increasing demands for water. Finally in 1871, a bond issue made possible the construction of the St. Louis Water Works, which included settling tanks at Bissell's Point north of the City; the Compton Hill Reservoir; and the Grand Avenue Water Tower.

Water Towers
Three standpipes or water towers were built in St. Louis, all within a period of thirty years. The Grand Avenue (or White) Water Tower was constructed in 1871. Standing 175 feet above Market Street, it used gravity to provide pressure to water mains throughout the City. The brick structure is a giant Corinthian column, with cast iron capital. It was taken out of service in 1912.

Two other water towers were constructed during the Victorian period. The Compton Hill Tower was the last to be built, in 1898, from a design by Harvey Ellis. Another Victorian fantasy, the column's base is of rusticated stone; the tower itself rises to 180 feet, and is topped with a high bell-cast roof.

Intake Towers
Water intake towers were located in the Mississippi River to collect water and draw it to the City reservoir at Bissell's Point. Intake Tower No. 1, by William S. Eames, was constructed in 1894 in the Romanesque Revival style. It has an asymmetrically-placed turret with a conical roof, and rusticated limestone facades. The structure included living quarters for workmen. The Renaissance Revival Tower No. 2 was designed by the St. Louis firm of Roth and Study in 1913. Intake Tower No. 1 is still in use today.

Parks

Tower Grove Park
Tower Grove Park was laid out in 1868 under the guidance of Henry Shaw and horticulturist James Gurney of London's Regent Park. Tower Grove is representative of the Victorian Walking Park, a romantic creation where trees, shrubs and fantasy park structures were carefully placed to provide pedestrians with picturesque views. Throughout the park are numerous, brightly colored pagodas, band stands, pavilions and bridges. Tower Grove Park is a National Historic Landmark.

Within the park is the Palm House, the oldest greenhouse west of the Mississippi. The red brick building, designed by George I. Barnett, has a metal, side gable roof with ornamental cresting at the ridge. The central entry is set beneath a brick gable and fanlight. Piers separate each bay of the front facade, containing tall, nine-over-nine windows. Side elevations have narrow, round-arched multi-light windows of graduated size, and a stepped corbelled cornice.

A prominent feature of the park is the Bandstand, which was designed by Eugene Greenleaf in 1872-Sunday concerts were often held in the Bandstand in the Victorian period, and it is still in use today. The bandstand has a high onion dome roof, supported by slender, bracketed cast iron posts. Placed in a circle around the Bandstand are the busts of famous composers.

Private Streets
The concept of a private street seems to have been first created in St. Louis; the concept was soon adopted by other major cities in the Victorian era. Private streets were the refuge of the wealthy from the city's noise and pollution, and from the dearth of zoning regulations. Residents were responsible for the maintenance of the street, which usually included a park-like median; in exchange, they had the ability to erect entrance gates, to regulate traffic, and to ban industry and other undesirable uses. Homeowners signed covenants regulating the size and placement of houses, fences and other structures.

Benton Place, in the Lafayette Square neighborhood, was created in 1868 by Julius Pitzman, a Civil War surveyor. Pitzman was responsible for the platting of most of the private streets in St. Louis. Benton Place was built as a cul-du-sac, with a landscaped elliptical-shaped park in the center. Houses on Benton Place are primarily Second Empire style.

Portland and Westmoreland Places were created in 1888, as the Forest Park Addition to the City. Also platted by Pitzman, the two streets extend from Kingshighway to Union, north of Lindell Boulevard. Portland and Westmoreland Places contain some of the city's largest and finest residences. A landscaped median extends down the center of both streets. Entrance gates at east and west ends exhibit a variety of architectural influences.

Entrance Gates
The earliest private streets, among them Benton Place, had modest stone entry markers. On the later private streets, the gates were far larger and more elaborate, often using a variety of materials and reflecting current popular architectural styles. The Washington Terrace Gates on Union Boulevard, were designed by Harvey Ellis in 1894. Another Victorian fantasy structure, the central block has Chateauesque elements compressed into a diminutive castle: rounded corners are topped by high bell-cast slate roofs with a central clock tower ending in a cupola and spire. Walls of this tiny building are massive, with deeply-recessed openings, belt courses and corbelling. On either side, smaller posts are linked to the central block by wrought iron arches. A small apartment is located within the gate structure.

Industrial Buildings

During the Victorian period the industrial production of St. Louis increased dramatically. More and larger facilities were built as the City's technology advanced, and more locally produced goods were developed. The largest number of manufacturing facilities developed along the river front, north and south of downtown. Because 19th century industries were continually expanding and upgrading their facilities, many earlier factory and manufacturing buildings had a short life span. The industrial buildings we have been able to locate all date from the later part of the Victorian period.

Factories
The building at 217 Cass Avenue, between Cass and Florida Streets, was constructed about 1879, for the St. Louis Stamp Company as a tin stamping factory. The four-story building has a simple corbelled cornice and segmentally-arched six-over-six windows, regularly spaced on all facades. Those of the front elevation have decorative cast iron lintels. The loading dock at the first story is a later alteration.

Warehouses
The building at 230 Cass Avenue was constructed about 1890 as a warehouse. The building is long and narrow, with a rough-cut limestone foundation, and red brick facades. The narrow gabled front is symmetrical, with a central door and flanking triple windows under segmental arches. Windows of the second story are round-arched and grouped in threes or in pairs. A semi-circular louver is centered in the gable, which has a simple corbelled cornice. The remainder of the warehouse building is utilitarian in design, with a series of loading docks under segmental arches, carried by piers with limestone quoins.

Breweries
An important category of industrial buildings in the City are breweries, which were major contributors to St. Louis' economy. While only the Anheuser-Busch Company continues to produce beer on a large scale, there are several former breweries still standing. The dominant characteristic of the late 19th and early 20th century brewery structures is the nearly exclusive use of Romanesque Revival design.

The former Griesedieck Brewery complex is located at the corner of Shenandoah and Lemp Streets, in Benton Park. The oldest building on the site is the Brewhouse, which was constructed in 1887. The four-story, three-bay building has an ashlar stone foundation and tall round-arched windows on the first story, with a variety of window treatments. Corbel tables appear at the second floor level and at the parapet. A five-story tower with hipped roof and segmental openings is set at the right, directly adjacent to the Stockhouse, the oldest part of which was constructed in 1896. Also four stories in height, the Stockhouse has an arched entry leading through the building into the brewery's interior courtyard, and a number of decorative pilasters and corbel tables. A three-story Stockhouse addition is to the right.