St. Michael's Orthodox Church Steeple - St. Louis, MO - Unique Steeples on Waymarking.com

County of church: St. Louis Independent City
Location of church: Ann Ave. and Gravois Ave. (Historic Route 66), St. Louis
Style of church: Russian-Byzantine
Parish Rector Christopher Phillips
Phone: (314) 544-5632

About 5 years ago, I was custom building a set of kitchen cabinets for a friend in the Soulard area of St. Louis. I took an hour lunch to keep my mind clear, and wandered near their home for interesting waymarks.
This Russian Orthodox Church jumped out at me. The steeple is about 70-75 feet tall, but unique in the fish scale tiles on the pyramidal roof of the upper tower. The capping off of the steeple with onion dome topped with the Russian cross. The bell tower chamber portion of the steeple has been closed off with wood window fillers.

"St. Michael the Archangel Russian Orthodox Church, 1928 (Photo #79) With its exotic profile and prominent location at 1901 Ann visible from Highway 55 ~ St. Michael's is a familiar sight to many St. Louisans. Built with funds donated by many denominations to help a local Russian Orthodox congregation secure a permanent home, the church is built of brown brick incised with an X pattern and features domes of traditional Russian-Byzantine architecture. The central, white stuccoed hemispherical dome is surrounded by four smaller onion domes rising from small drums. All five are surmounted with Russian Orthodox crosses. Round arched opaque stained-glass windows illuminate the three apses. A tile-roofed tower over the narthex has arched and shuttered openings, a simple Catherine-wheel window, decorative brick corbeling, and a brick arch over the entrance. It is capped with an onion dome and cross. The modified cross-dome, hall-church plan is typical of this style of architecture. The interior of the church is richly decorated." ~ NRHP Nomination Form

Cornerstone Text:
ST. MICHAEL THE ARCHANGEL
RUSSIAN ORTHODOX CHURCH
1928
РУССКАЯ ПРАВОСЛАВНАЯ
СВ, АРХИСТРАТИГА МИХАИЛА
ЦЕРКОВЬ