Sublunar Photography

Bethany Evangelical Lutheran Church's congregation formed in 1874. But it wasn't until July 1890 before they would have their own "magnificent" church erected here. Unfortunately, their new church burned to the ground less than 5 years later. The congregation would not be deterred, however and set out to rebuild with even loftier goals for the replacement. This new church building, when completed, was the biggest one to date for this denomination in Missouri and elsewhere. The organ was also substantially larger than its predecessor. The cornerstone was laid in 1928 and construction was completed in 1929.

The original congregation, however, would not stay long enough to see this building through the next few decades. The once greatest church of their denomination would soon change hands. It has undergone at least 4 major denominational changes. Most likely, the founding congregation didn't survive the mass exodus of most of the town's contributing inhabitants (which is the same fate experienced by many other similar churches in Saint Louis beginning in the 60's) before ultimately ending up in its current, abandoned, state.

UPDATE: This church has since been sold and completely renovated.

Source(s): 1

Lever Soap Plant of Saint Louis was built in 1953 and lasted nearly 50 years in operation, before closing in 2001 as a result of restructuring.

"Lever Brothers was a British manufacturer founded in 1885 by William Hesketh Lever (1851–1925) and his brother, James Darcy Lever (1854–1910). The brothers had invested in and promoted a new soap making process invented by chemist William Hough Watson, it was a huge success. Lever Brothers merged with Margarine Unie in 1930 to form Unilever." - wiki

It had been a while since my last visit here.. Always a fun and dangerous place.

Update: Lever Soap Plant has been demolished.

The Chemical Plant was constructed in the 1960s as one branch of the chemical division of a larger manufacturing company, which had been in operation for over 100 years. In the mid 1980s, this chemical division was incorporated as its own separate company. The newly formed company, however, would not last two decades before declaring bankruptcy. Shortly thereafter, it was bought out by a competitor. This plant, having been in violation of safety codes by this time, was shut down.