Depressing pictures of the once-great, now-crumbling city of St. Louis, Missouri. Around the time of the 1904 World's Fair, St. Louis was a world class city in terms of population and wealth. The buildings from this era are gorgeous, and the neighborhoods that have survived are charming. Unfortunately, large sections of the city have not survived. Beautiful landmarks have been torn down to make room for parking lots (or worse), while others sit as empty shells.
I heard somewhere that one of the reasons that Chicago has such a rich architectural tradition is precisely because they have been willing to tear down small, beautiful buildings to make room for large beautiful buildings. The sad thing about St. Louis is that the city is just withering away... block after block of beautiful brick buildings sit vacant until they become so hazardously rickety that demolition is the only option. [link courtesy of GeekLife's Jason.]
