For those of you just tuning in, I’ll repeat that a little over a year ago I made a visit to the archives belonging to the Missouri History Museum in Forest Park. There I met the archivist Lauren Sallwasser who it turned out is a fellow Maplewoodian.
She showed me their collection of documents and photographs that had been donated by Margaret Sappington Townsend. She was kind enough to provide me with digital copies of two of the photo albums from that collection. It was a mind-blowing experience. I’ve been trying to get back ever since.
Although, I have posted many of the images from those two albums that I consider solid gold nuggets from the rich vein of Maplewood history. There are many more that are worth a look.
Last post we took a look at the first ten pages from Album One
Click on this if you would like to see the First Ten Pages from Album One again.
Still from Album One, here are ten more pages beginning with page 11.
Page eleven. The address on this house is very clearly 7177. From other images in this collection, I have learned that it was on Manchester, west of Sutton even though the address would have you think otherwise. Images added to the album later show that the address had been changed to 7477. This is a fairly common problem for historians. As the population increased, it was sometimes necessary for the post office to change the addresses.
Page twelve. Philip’s page. Since I have had much enjoyment from having the whole of the two albums to examine, I thought that the only way for the followers of this space to experience that was to post all of the images contained within the albums. That is a tall order that I may not be able to fulfill but I’ll give it a try. This album has 50 pages.
Detail from page twelve.
Also from page twelve. Women’s basketball team, maybe?
Page thirteen. Even though none of the subjects are identified in these three photographs, I find them very interesting. Perhaps soon we’ll be able to use facial recognition software to identify these folks. From the landscape, I think the location may have been close to and just east of the Sarah Harrison home (now J.B. Smith’s funeral home) at 7456 Manchester.
Page fourteen.
Page fifteen.
Page sixteen. That top photograph is interesting. I’ll enlarge it a bit.
This apparently is the depot at Clifton Terrace. I can’t say for sure but I suspect this depot served the neighborhood of Clifton Heights which is in the City of St. Louis and to the east of Maplewood and Ellendale.
Page seventeen. I have no idea what these ladies are up to but they sure seemed to be having fun. Notice the broad eaves on that house.
Page eighteen. Just about all of these images are more interesting when you enlarge them. It is especially true of the next one.
From page eighteen. For reasons unknown, the group was displaying various tools mostly the used for house cleaning.
Page nineteen. This bottom one is very interesting. Can anyone identify the location?
Also from page nineteen. What are these girls up to now?
Page twenty.
Under higher magnification, this trio was standing in front of the sign partially blocked——BERGER STORE. The woman on the right is holding a camera.
I assemble these posts on my computer. But I imagine that most folks looking at them may be doing so on their phones. Anyhow, I hope you can get as much from them as I do. So very many of them benefit from enlargement.
Finally we are having the weather I really enjoy. From the 70s all the way to the 90s. I was in my garage workshop the other day when the temperature was 93. It felt fine. I’ll let you know when I say “uncle”.
Doug Houser April 8, 2026
Looking at these on my Mac it’s fun to zoom in on the faces. Very theatrical situations and poses. Another great find!
I really appreciate what you are doing. My aunt and uncle lived near Maplewood and when I visited, we would go there from her residence on Schaeffer pl. I am now almost 81, and she never had clothes like the ladies in the photographs. I suspect they are 1920 or earlier fashions,. Being born in 1945, way before my time.
Carole, I believe you are correct. Thank you for your recollections.
Doug, I love reading your posts! Thank you for all your research and time to share a bit of history with us. Your posts always make me smile. Do you know the time period of these photos? My sense of time is not the best. Judging from my parents albums, I know the pics are definitely prior to the 40s and maybe before the 30s. (?)
Lynda, All of these images are from two photo albums that the archivist Lauren Sallwasser kindly scanned for me from the collection at the Missouri History Museum archives on Skinker. I have named them Album One and Album Two. I have a feeling that Album One is the older of the two but this may not be correct. None of the images in Album One are dated. In Album Two, there is one photograph that has the year 1906 written on it. In the middle of the album there are numerous photographs dated 1913 and then 1914. I can imagine that some of the images could have been added in 1915 but I’m just guessing.