Laundromats

I mentioned the neighborhood used to have 4 laundrys on the street. One was down by the Post Office, one was in one of the storefronts attached to what used to be the 9 0 5 Liquor Store. Bertram ... View more Drugstore was across the street. Then the big one where O'Shay's is now. That was a very good laundromat. I pushed my daughter in a stroller, from 1307 S. Newstead (home) up the street to go do our laundry. We didn't have a washer and dryer. The laundromat was always busy, this was in 1966. You had to wait for a machine. People would meet in the laundromat and chat and be neighborly. I was in there when my water ruptured with my second child. I couldn't understand why when I would pick up the basket or the child, I would wet myself. I asked one of the ladies. She was a nurse at Barnes. She told me I was about to go into labor and I needed to go to the hospital. OK, but I had to finish the laundry and get it home first. Then I had to go over to my Mom's house on Oakland and get a ride to the hospital, Jewish Hospital. Sometime after I moved away with my US Navy husband in 1968 that laundry died and was boarded up. Then when I came back to stay and pay attention in 1984, I noticed the Diner had been transformed into a laundromat. It was not as nice as the one had been across the street, it wasn't supposed to be, it was just there. It was supposed to become an eyesore to the people who did not use it, to request it be shut down and closed up. Then I got involved with a divorce and recovery so I left home for awhile, that was 1994. I moved to Poplar Bluff. I came back in 2002 It was still there then, but was a sorry sight to see and use. Then I left in 2007 and returned in 2010, it was gone when I got back and Mission St. Louis has claimed it for the time being. So far, there has not been a replacement to take the place of those lost in the decline and improvement of the neighborhood. There were always services here for the public but serviced more residents in the neighborhood than not. We had a great neighborhood at one time, but then came the decline. It came by invitation.