forgotten buildings

Beaumont High School

Beaumont High School is another one of those places I never would have seen had it not been for the Cakeway to the West project. There is no cake at the school itself, but there is one at the park across the street, so I noticed the school when looking for the cake. It’s a wonderful example of the beautiful architecture that used to be found on school buildings:

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Sadly, the 2014 graduating class was the last group of students to go to high school here. I’m not sure what’s going to happen to the building (I think it might continue to be used as a technical school, but I’m not sure), but I’m glad I got to take a picture of it when I did!

First National Bank Building

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:

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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!