Old Welsh Baby Carriage Factory

Joanie’s sister Max was in town last weekend and we managed to hookup on Saturday afternoon. Like Joanie, Max grew up in Saint Louis, but she hasn’t lived here for many years. She decided that she wanted to see Soulard, which she hadn’t seen for many years, so we drove down to the farmer’s market, which was in its waning hours for the day. I was amazed at some of the deals there then. We bought two quarts of blueberries for $3. We also paid full price for some nice gourmet items. We got a loaf of sourdough bread that tastes like it was baked in San Francisco. We also got some herb pasta that we had last night. Like the vendor recommended we add just olive oil and parmesan, and then I added green onions and mushrooms for veggies with the meal. It was delicious.

Pictured is the old Welsh baby carriage factory. The building has an unusual F-shape. It is all loft apartments now, with beautiful floor to ceiling windows, exposed brick walls and wood ceiling rafters. Thirty years ago we bought a stroller there for Danny, that held up pretty well, but Welsh was on its way out and didn’t last there much longer. All those beautiful windows were boarded up back then, making the factory very dark and scary inside. Afterwards, the building sat pretty idle, except for occasional stints as a haunted house around Halloween. Adding to its street cred in this department, part of the building collapsed, killing a women in her car around this time. Before it was a baby carriage factory, it was a shoe factory. Helping to make Saint Louis first in shoes, first in booze and last in the American League. Before all that it acted as a hospital during the Civil War. So, it has lived a long and storied life and I’m glad to see that it has gotten another chance to look great again!