Even More Images from William Lyman Thomas’ 1911 History of St. Louis County

By
Doug Houser
-
14
71
The Highway Bridge at St. Charles. I remember this one as being just a bit hair raising to drive over. I don't recall what year it was taken down.

This is the fifth post displaying images that William Lyman Thomas collected around 1911 for his landmark two volume set.  For those who may not have been following this blog, these images are from the collection of a direct descendant of WLT and his wife, Kate Compton Sutton Thomas.  Many of these images have never been shown in public before.

As has been my habit, I’ll include scans of the backs of most of the photos as well.  Thomas’ notations and instructions to the printer allow us a look at part of his construction process that we’d otherwise never see.

As I have said many times before, much thanks to the Thomas family descendants for sharing their most important historic artifacts with us all.

Chaminade College.
Back of the same.
Clayton Court House.

Grace Episcopal Church. I have long been an admirer of the beauty and grace of this building located at Taylor and Argonne next to the Farmer’s Market.

The Highway Bridge at St. Charles. I remember this one as being just a bit hair raising to drive over. I don’t recall what year it was taken down.

The LaSalle Institute at Glencoe. Does anyone know if this one is still around? I’m not at all familiar with the area. I’ll be surprised if it is.

The Meramec near Mincke.

Kirkwood Methodist Church.

I believe there are still enough of these images that Thomas collected for his books to fill another post.  Aside from these there are still quite a few personal photographs and documents that I have not shown yet.  Stay tuned.

I hope you all enjoy this wonderful weather we’ve been having.  Happy Easter!

14 COMMENTS

  1. my father was born in Glencoe in 1925 , he used to make money by milking the cows at this location . This is Wildwood now and have a museum out on Manchester ( 100) lots of pictures there

    • Hey thanks, Larry. That’s some useful information. I had no idea there was a museum out there unless you mean the Route 66 one at Times Beach. Is that it?

  2. The bridge over the MO river into St Charles County I believe was demolished in the mid-late 1990s. It had been closed to traffic long before then.

  3. The La Salle Institute building in Glencoe had a fire that burned off the top floor, and it doesn’t look as attractive now as in this picture. Behind the building, though, is an interesting old cemetery with a full-size model of Golgotha.
    Mincke was the Frisco station for the Mincke family and a few others on the Meramec. County Parks now owns the Mincke Tract on the south side of the river in West Tyson Park and the site of the family home on the north side of the river on the hill above Sherman Beach.

    • That’s a lot of interesting information, Esley. It sounds like a place I’d like to take a look at sometime. Too bad about the fire. I always appreciate your input.

  4. FYI:
    lasalleretreat.org
    La Salle Retreat Center
    2101 Rue De LaSalle Drive
    Glencoe, MO 63038

    Off of 109 near Old State road. Have to drive up in there to see it and now some modern buildings too.

    Have attended a watercolor painting retreat there before

  6. Doug, I noticed that several of the images are actual post cards. I am not in the habit of going to places that might have post cards for sale but do think it is a good way to keep some of the places alive. Especially after they are gone.

    • The postcards are interesting artifacts. Ones that were actually sent have the desirable feature of having the date stamped on them. Thanks for your comment, Mark.

Comments are closed.