The buildings of East St. Louis fascinate me. So many of them are abandoned and being reclaimed by nature, but there are others that are struggling to survive. This one, the First National Bank building (which appears to now house the First Illinois Bank), is my favorite. Even though it, like most of the buildings in East St. Louis, is in some level of disrepair, you can still see its beauty, and it looks like it has a lot of stories to tell. I finally got up the courage to go photograph it for myself:

I’m hoping that this will be the beginning of a project to photograph more of the old buildings in the St. Louis area. I’d also like to learn more about some of St. Louis’s old, often decrepit and/or abandoned buildings, so if you know anything about any of them, please let me know!