Posted in St. Louis
December 18, 2017
17 Staggering Photos Of An Abandoned Shopping Mall Hidden In St. Louis
St. Louis is a city with a story to tell, but locals oftentimes forget that. The city dates back to 1764, when a 13-year-old scout helped a land grant recipient select a plot of land for a fur trading post. Since then, the city has changed dramatically. The city continues to evolve and change, a fact which we are reminded of when we gaze upon the entrancing photos of a building that sat abandoned for decades.
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The Wright Building was constructed in 1907. In 1913, the Arcade was added to the existing building, wrapping around it and engulfing it in splendid architecture.
When the building opened, the city was industrializing and becoming crowded. A shopping center was much needed, and the stunning rib-vaulted shopping arcade or "interior street" of this building provided the space for just that that.
This massive building, inspired by the galleries of Milan and Naples, housed both shopping and offices. Its splendor attracted many visitors for many years, but all that activity eventually ceased.
The office sat crumbling and its linotype machines sat rusting with the rest of the artifacts of the era.
Urban explorers reported that there was even an old optometrist's office, holding the remains of lenses that appeared to have been still in progress at the time of abandonment.
Its architecture remained stunning, despite years of decay, and modern investors and renovators recently realized that.
This stunning building has been on the National Register of Historic Places since 2003, and now it has a new life breathed into it. Its beauty has been restored, but these haunting images of the past remind us of what St. Louis’ inner city once was.
Love local history? You will love these historic neighborhoods.
