The weirdest brick pattern I ever saw was at the old train station in St. Louis

I was there for a family trip and had to check out the building. The whole east wall has this one section where the bricklayer must have gotten confused, because the pattern switches from running bond to Flemish bond for about three feet, then just stops. It's right by the main entrance arch. Has anyone else ever found a historical mistake like that in a public building?

3 comments

3 Comments

lee3521mo ago

That St. Louis station brickwork is a famous feature. Most preservationists I've talked to say it was a deliberate choice, not a mistake. They used the Flemish bond for that small section to reinforce the wall near the arch's stress point. It looks odd, but it was the builder's way of adding strength right where it was needed.

elizabeth_garcia1mo ago

Did you take a picture of that odd brickwork?

finley_walker5727d ago

Honestly Elizabeth, asking if I took a picture is funny because I stood there for ten minutes trying to get the angle right. My camera roll is just fifty shots of that one weird brick wall. Tbh it looks like the builder ran out of the normal bricks and just used whatever was left in the truck.