Haunting Photos From Inside St. Louis' Long-Abandoned Eliot School

For more than 100 years, Eliot School hummed with the activity of children learning. It was a hub for St. Louis' Fairground neighborhood and innovative for its day — designed by famed architect William B. Ittner, it was among the first St. Louis Public Schools buildings to have indoor plumbing instead of relying upon outhouses and used a boiler for heat instead of a furnace. "In 1898, these innovations were nothing short of revolutionary," the building's application for the National Register of Historic Places notes.

But as the City of St. Louis hemorrhaged population in the second half of the 20th century, Fairground and its surrounding neighborhoods were hit hard. As what had been a vibrant neighborhood full of school-age families steadily grew emptier, the writing was on the wall. Eliot School closed in 2004.

Twenty years later, the long-abandoned building is finally poised to see new life, with ambitious plans on the part of a local Jubilee Community Church to transform the former elementary school into an anchor of hope for the neighborhood, providing recovery and support services to community members suffering from addiction, mental illness and homelessness.

Read more about the plans for Jubilee Community Wellness Center in Lauren Harpold's report, and then check out RFT Photojournalist Zachary Linhares' photos of what Eliot School really looks like inside today.