This large church, sitting on what is now a triangle block, is certainly beautiful, and an excellent example of many churches in St. Louis with a curved, auditorium style sanctuary. Opened in 1884 and designed by Thomas Annan, it is now missing its peaked roof on its bell tower.
But what is interesting to me is that originally its backside faced other houses and the alley, but when Spring Street was cut through diagonally to connect two earlier sections in order to expedite the passage of the automobile, its backside was suddenly thrust into prominence. You can also see in the first picture how small 1940′s era houses were then built into the newly created and smaller lots left behind afterh the demolitions.
And as is so common, the back, non-public portion of the building was clad in brick, which now ironically the more public side of the well-traveled Spring Avenue.
