Great Grandma’s Old Flat

This is a story about 1942-44 Hebert Street, which is in the Old North St. Louis ze ntawm cov me nyuam. Louis, MO. Like its neighbors, cov qauv no muaj pom zoo hnub. I became interested in the building because my great grandmother lived at this address in 1930.

My maternal grandfather’s family lived in the northern part of St. Louis thaum nws thaum yau los 1915 mus rau 1930s thaum ntxov. He owned a home on Dryden Avenue in the 1950s, which is in better condition than this building. He used to speak nostalgically about growing up in Walnut Park and living with his Uncles Jules. Hmoov tsis, Txiv ntxawm Jules’ house on Thrush Avenue is now a vacant lot.

The picture above is of 1942-44 Hebert Street hnub no. Builders completed the flat in 1882 making the dwelling 131 xyoo. It is a testament to the standards of construction at the time that its roof is almost completely gone, lub tsheb tag nrho ntawm lub tsev muaj tsaus muag rau hauv lub tiaj nraum qaum tsev, bricks are missing from some of the walls and it appears that the upper floors may have collapsed due to the rain coming in through the roof. Tsis tau, lub tsev tseem stands.

IB “Muag” yog pom rau lub 1944 entry board but it is old. Teb chaws Revitalization cai, cov me nyuam. Louis nroog delinquent muaj tswv, muab dua cov cuab 1996. Raws li tej ntaub ntawv lub zos, tias tsis muaj txij thaum kawg 1995. The city condemned the building in January 2013, which means a date with the wrecking ball is on tap within the next few months. Lub nroog yuav rhuav 1942-44 Hebert txoj kev nrog nary ib whimper. Neighbors will celebrate that they do not have to live with the eye sore anymore. Tus me nyuam muaj hnub nyoog qaum teb. Louis puas tau li hais no ib revitalization. Residents are saving the buildings. Yog hais tias tus 1942-44 Hebert Street could have still been intact a little longer, rehabbers could have saved the building.

Hmoov tsis, short sighted urban planners thought it would be a great idea to let the older housing stock in the north section of the city rot. The city could demolish the old housing and replace it with newer housing. Builders constructed south side buildings over a series of caves, so the sinkholes in the area made it difficult to build. Qaum teb sab ua lawm ntxov, ces tus vaj tse yuav muab hlob.

Lawm, the housing stock was older, but city planners gave little thought to its place in the history of the city or the superior construction of the time. 1942-44 Txoj kev Hebert yog ib qhov muag mob tam sim no, tab sis ua 1930 Nws yog ib tug haven rau ib tug poj ntsuam muaj me tub, leej twg xav ua closer rau nws tsev neeg. Ib taleas tag nrho thiab paub zoo txog tus tu siab kawg rau tus qauv zoo siab ib zaug rau sab qaum teb.

Koj yuav tawm ib saib los nug cov lus nug txog qhov no los yog tej tsev xa rau kuv Facebook phab.

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