#250: St. Louis County Courthouse

WOO-HOO! (in Homer Simpson mode) Cake #250!!! It still hasn't sunk in yet that I have now visited the first 250 cake locations. Unbelievable. I can't believe it. I've traveled far and away and close-together places, and here I am. But of course - this doesn't necessarily mean that I am done. At the moment there are 251 cakes, plus 2 that still need to be put out. The one that I missed, which likely will be #251, is Six Flags. I'll explain more about that in my future post.

So why did I choose the St. Louis County Courthouse as my grand milestone cake? Not very many reasons, but if you recall, this was one of my 'skipped' cakes. But not intentional. The other four cakes in Clayton were in my first ten. At the time all I had was the list on me and no app or map. I was mostly going by the city the cake was in, which is how I got those Clayton cakes. A few days later, when discovering the map...I noticed I pretty much walked by the cake location without noticing! So, needless to say, I was a bit bummed. Since May I have not any urge to go back to the hustle-and-bustle of Clayton. Well...until now. I'm still wondering why this has a St. Louis address when this is located in downtown Clayton.

Now....here are the facts about St. Louis County and its courthouse, as well as its adjacent Police Department.

• St. Louis County is the largest populated county in Missouri - just 2,000 short of 1 million!
• County seat is Clayton
• The county does NOT include the city of St. Louis, which is independent
• The St. Louis County Circuit Court was established in 1815.
• The city of St. Louis separated itself from the county in 1877.
• The St. Louis County Police Department (which is also by the cake) was created in 1955.
• And, for the record, the city of Clayton is named after Ralph Clayton, who donated land for this courthouse.

Another thing that might interest you - and surprise as well, the largest populated suburban cities in St. Louis County:

1. Florissant
2. Chesterfield
3. Wildwood
4. University City
5. Ballwin

Remember, if I were to include the entire 'caking' region, most of those cities would be knocked off the list and be replaced with O'Fallon (MO), St. Charles and Belleville.

Did you know...there is a St. Louis County in Minnesota?

The courthouse building

A dedication to Buzz Westfall

And....the cake, which is located in (kind of) a hidden area. It's got an American and St. Louis flag theme. Very fitting, I'll say. This happens to be one of Rich Brooks' many cakes. He was very thrilled that one of his was my 250th.

Back side of the cake

Right side of the cake

Left side of the cake

Official website

7900 Carondelet Avenue, ST. LOUIS, MO, 63105  (it is actually located in downtown Clayton)
Cake artist: Rich Brooks

#102: Alton City Hall

Alton is one of three Illinois cities that got five cakes (the others being East St. Louis and Belleville). Actually, six if you count the Piasa Bird, which is located just a few miles outside the city. A lot of people questioned why one at Alton City Hall. I don't know the answer, but I do believe it was a way to represent the strong connection between St. Louis and the town known as 'the riverbend', Alton.

 

I may as well share what I know about Alton, Illinois. Where to start? Alton has so much rich history, and I would hate to leave out so much. A man named Rufus Easton started the city in 1818 (same year Illinois was admitted into the union). At one time (50 years ago) Alton was the largest city in Madison County, but unfortunately it has lost many residents each decade since the 1960s. But locals still are proud to show what the city has to offer. Besides the Piasa Bird, one of the earliest stories of Alton was the possible early site of the American Civil War. Illinois was a free state and Missouri was still a slave state in the 1830s, and many believed it was an independent journalist and publisher, Elijah Lovejoy, who sparked the whole thing. Lovejoy printed out several papers and pamphlets about anti-slavery, which angered and alienated several people. His printing presses were destroyed and thrown in the river, and he was shot by a pro-slavery mob while trying to defend his newer printing press. The Lovejoy Monument in Alton was in honor of him, and his philosophy on free speech and speaking out is always reminded on the front page of the Alton Telegraph (its newspaper).

 

Alton is also one of the Top 10 haunted towns in America, as noted by paranormal enthusiasts. I have heard several stories about personal experiences with ghosts. Not just from my peers, but from interviews I have done with people as well as several books that point out Alton's creepiest places. Several old buildings in downtown Alton have claimed ghost sightings. The Meridian Coffeehouse and the McPike Mansion are known to be the two most haunted places in Alton. Cemetaries including the Lovejoy and Confederate, are also noted to be very haunted.


Throughout the 20th century to today, Alton has been a manufacturing city and working-class place. In 1954, Alton was one of three cities selected for the site of the United States Air Force. A little town called Colorado Springs got it instead, and the town grew to become Colorado's 2nd largest city. Just think what would have happened if they put it in Alton?! Alton has also seen its struggles, including the Great Flood of '93.

 

Famous 'Altonites' (I call them that!) include:

• Robert Wadlow - the world's tallest person
• Miles Davis - the 'king of cool' jazz music; Rock and Roll Hall of Famer (there is a statue of him that will be placed in Alton in the future)
• Phyllis Schlafly - conservative activist and writer
• James Earl Ray - assassin of Dr. Martin Luther King
• Bonnie Bramlett - rocker who sang with the Ikettes and Delaney & Bonnie, later played Roseanne's friend Bonnie on TV's Roseanne

 

Alton City Hall

Behind the grand ol' fountain across from Alton City Hall. Look closely and you'll get a nice view of the Clark Bridge (which is celebrating its 20th anniversary this year) and the Mississippi River

The welcoming staircase inside Alton City Hall

And the cake:

Left side of the cake

Right side of the cake

NOTE: This cake has since been removed to the outside of the building, possibly due to cake-hunters' complaints about the limited hours the City Hall is open.

 

City of Alton Official website

 

101 E. 3rd St., ALTON, IL, 62002
Cake artist: Screwed Artist Collective

#100: East St. Louis Municipal Building

This is where, obviously, all the city officials meet and work in the heart of East St. Louis. The city of East St. Louis has five cakes, all in notable locations. Since this cake location is about the main government building, I thought I would tell a little history about the community/city and its struggles. First, East St. Louis was founded in 1797 by Captain James Piggott, who was a Revolutionary War vetaran. At that time, it was called 'Illinoistown'. Piggott operated a ferry business that transported things from East St. Louis to the Illinois Territory. This was the beginning of its long history in manufacturing and industries.

Despite of the city's long, rich history, East St. Louis has taken an unfortunate hit nation-wide as it has remained over the years on several Top 10 lists (sometimes No. 1) as the nation's 'most dangerous city'. In 2007, the Federal Bureau of Investigation listed East St. Louis as No. 1 because of its high rates in crime (rape, homicide, burglary, etc.). It has also been recognized as a 'hellhole' recently on Saturday Night Live, in which Mayor Alvin Parks continuously denies. East St. Louis High School is the only high school that I've ever seen that has a sign that reads, 'No Weapons, No Drugs Allowed'. One would wonder after driving through parts of the city and seeing its scars that if East St. Louis could ever be revived and saved. There are numerous theories and several blaming factors that have led to its current state, but for me to write about it would have to be in book-form.

All the negative aside, the city does have some gems and marvels. Take the most recent: the Gateway Geyser, located at the Malcolm W. Martin Memorial Park. It is located within a walking distance from the city's big economic jewel, Casino Queen. East St. Louis also does not forget its famous past residents, including Katherine Dunham, Jackie Joyner-Kersee, Miles Davis and Dawn Harper. There are several efforts that have been going on in the last 20 years to revive suburban housing, mostly put on by volunteers. In the summer of 1998, I helped with my church youth group to repair roofs and put up drywall in a couple houses.

Reserved for the mighty mayor of East St. Louis

Cake artist Katherine Nelson, who has decorated many cakes for the STL250 project, decided to a theme based on ladybugs for this particular cake. In short, she wanted it to 'celebrate the joy of discovering a ladybug!'. Ladybugs are one of the smallest creatures found in the St. Louis area, especially in the Missouri Botanical Gardens. According to this cake's stl250 page, Katherine used a lot of black paint and contrast on it.

Front and right side of the cake

Left side of the cake

East St. Louis, Illinois Wikipedia link
City of East St. Louis' Official website

301 River Park Drive, EAST ST. LOUIS, IL, 62201
Cake artist: Katherine Nelson

#29: St. Louis City Hall

According to stl250 director Erin Budde, this was the very first cake that was placed. I'd say, very fitting, right?

• Designed by the St. Joseph architectural firm, Eckel & Mann.
• Constructed started in 1890. Some sources say 1892 and 93.
• The present building was completed in 1904, just in time for the World's Fair.
• St. Louis City Hall goes back as early as 1808, when city leaders and officials met wherever they could, be it at people's homes or churches. This was until 1827 when it was decided by vote to build St. Louis' first-ever City Hall.
• The present City Hall is the fourth one, after the previous three were farther east of downtown, close to the riverfront.
• At one time, the Old Courthouse was used as a City Hall after a fire destroyed the second building in 1856.
• It is very similar to the Hotel de Ville in Paris,France.
• The words 'City Hall' were engraved on the entrance doors after the City Commission denied then-Mayor Bernard Dickmann's request of having a red, white and blue neon sign (above the entrance).

 The sides of the first placed stl250 cake, which fittingly has a St. Louisan-kind of theme:

Left side of the cake

Back side of the cake

Right side of the cake

Top of the cake

Here is an online copy of the 1990 brochure for the historic St. Louis City Hall (.pdf version). It provides several history of the building, in detail.

City of St. Louis website

1200 Market St., ST. LOUIS, MO, 63103
Cake artist: Ashley Wenzel