ecology of absence

Bronson Hide Company Building

LOCATION: 806-8 North First Street; Laclede's Landing; Saint Louis, Missouri
ORIGINAL NAME: Cranwill Building
DATE OF CONSTRUCTION: 1855(?)

The small, graceful Bronson Hide Company building stood on First Street for at least 142 years before wreckers demolished it in 1997. Earlier, in 1993, its rear wall had collapsed. Its absentee owners, Casino Magic of Bay St. Louis, Mississippi, lost all hopes of using the building for offices when they lost a bidding war for a failed riverfront casino project. No one made a serious offer to buy the building, which had been abandoned for many years. By the end of 1997, the building was gone. Here are photographs of it as it was destroyed. (If anyone has photographs of it before demolition started, please email us.)

Images from August 17, 1997:

  


Images from October 31, 1997:

        


Conclusion: Image from December 26, 1997:


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