Where Are All the Old Buildings At? (2026 Fall Lecture Series)

Andrew B. Weil is back at the Landmarks Association of St. Louis Headquarters on Wednesday, October 21, for a talk titled Where Are All the Old Buildings At? It's part of the association's 2026 Fall Lecture Series, and if you've spent any time wondering why certain parts of the city look the way they do, this is exactly the kind of thing you'll want to be in the room for.

Weil is a familiar face around here. He's a trained archaeologist and the association's former Executive Director, and he spent nearly 20 years at the helm. During that time, he authored 28 National Register nominations—the kind of deep-dive research that helps get old buildings officially recognized and protected. For this talk, he's returning to some of St. Louis's oldest buildings and building types, with a particular focus on vernacular architecture. That's the stuff built by craftsmen using local traditions rather than by architects following formal training, and Weil will be talking through those forms alongside the broader history of how the city physically grew.

The Landmarks Association itself has been around since 1959, a public non-profit dedicated to preserving and promoting the city's architectural heritage. Over the decades, it's built up a real archive of material—research from leading historians, curricula for students, and the historic resources of the Brambila Architectural Library—all with the goal of teaching people about the development of St. Louis's built environment. This lecture is one piece of a larger fall schedule: the series also includes tours of the Cathedral Basilica, New Mount Sinai Cemetery, and Cahokia Heights, plus a walkabout through Forest Park in its 150th anniversary year.

Weil's talk runs from 6:00 to 7:30 PM at the Landmarks Association Headquarters, 1805 S. 9th Street, on the corner of 9th and Soulard. Admission is free.