15 Strange Places Around St. Louis You Must Visit

www.pbr-photos.com The Shrine of Saint Joseph, which is at the corner of 11th Street and Biddle in St. Louis, Missouri, has a vast and interesting history. The church had its beginning in 1843 when the Jesuits founded the parish to serve a pleasant residential community consisting mostly of German immigrants. Also, the Church is the site of the only authenticated miracle in the Midwest.

Jefferson Barracks Telephone Museum
12 Hancock Ave.
St. Louis, MO 63125
(314) 416-8004

Yes, there is a local museum dedicated to one of your favorite pieces of technology. Visit this restored 1896 building to take a self-guided tour of telephones and related equipment manufactured from the late 1880s through the 2000s, including pieces from WWI through the Vietnam War. Expect plenty of memorabilia and hands-on displays to keep your curious mind busy. RFT photo.

The Black Madonna Shrine and Grottos
100 St Josephs Hill Rd.
Pacific, MO 63069
(636) 938 - 5361

Whether you’re a faithful church-goer, a history buff, an art lover or just someone who wants to have their mind blown, the Black Madonna Shrine is for you. It got it’s name from a painting of Mary and Jesus said to have been painted by St. Luke 2,000 years ago. You can learn why the painting is known as the Black Madonna here -- then roam through all the statues and art work meant to honor Our Lady of Czestochowa at the shrine in Missouri. Photo courtesy of Instagram / osterparty via pikore.com.

The National Horseshoe Pitchers Association Hall of Fame and Museum
100 Bluestem Way
Wentzville MO 63385
636-327-5720

Leave it to Missouri to be the home of the one and only horseshoe pitching museum. Trophies, lucky horseshoes, video footage of some of history’s best pitches and more fill this 21,000-square-foot museum. You can read more about it in this St. Louis Public Radio article -- and put it on your to-do list next time you visit Wentzville. You know, if visiting Wentzville is something you like to do. Photo courtesy of Flickr / Joshua Miller

Nuclear Waste Adventure Trail
7295 Hwy 94 S.
Weldon Spring, MO
(636) 300-2600

This strange destination may be a bit of a hike for city dwellers, but it’s worth it for anyone who has ever wanted feel like they’ve stepped inside a sci-fi movie. Officially called the Weldon Spring Site Remedial Action Project Disposal Cell, this man-made mountain holds the 1.48 million cubic yards of asbestos, TNT, PBCs, mercury, radioactive uranium and radium and other rubble from what was once the biggest explosives factory in the U.S., and then a uranium plant for Cold War nuclear bombs. You can explore the visitor’s center nearby and, of course, climb the hill. Photo courtesy of Flickr / Ken seghers

Altar of Answered Prayers at the Shrine of St. Joseph
1220 N 11th St.
St. Louis, MO 63106
(314) 231-9407

Hoping for some divine intervention? Make your way to the Alter of Answered prayers. Back in the 1800s, St. Louis faced various cholera epidemics. Members of St. Joseph Parish made a promise to St. Joseph that, if he interceded to spare them from the deathly disease, they would create a monument in honor of him. From that day on, no one from the parish who had made that promise came down with cholera -- and true to their word, they built a suitable altar for St. Joseph. Photo courtesy of Flickr / Phil Roussin

Dan’s Emerald Forest
8851 Windom Ave.
Overland, MO 63114
(314) 606-7569

Dan Schmidt could give Christmas Vacation’s Clark Griswold a run-for-his-money with his passion for decorating. What started simply as a project to re-lanscape his front yard escalated into what is now an immense garden-railroading display (yes, that’s a thing). His quirky hobby has turned into a local attraction, with people returning every holiday season to gape at the extensive system of lights, trains and more. Photo courtesy of Instagram / dansemeraldforest via pikore.com.

Grace’s Place
Located in the second floor foyer of the Computer Center Building at the University of Missouri St. Louis 8001 Natural Bridge Road
St. Louis, MO 63121

If that’s just not enough of old technology for you, go to Grace’s Place, a museum dedicated to computers. Named for Grace Murray Hopper, the inventor of the computer language COBOL, the museum is home to all the computers once thought to be cool. Tech geeks will love looking at all the old tubes and inside early computers, while kids will gape at the primitive technology you once lived with. Nothing will make you feel old faster. Photo courtesy of Flickr / Bill Selak

The Lemp Mansion Restaurant and Inn
3322 Demenil Pl.
St. Louis, MO 63118
(314) 664-8024

You can get a chill up your spine along with a hearty meal in an evening at Lemp Mansion. The house was once the home of the Lemp family, the first lager beer brewers in the U.S. -- and after various family tragedies, it also became the location of three out of four Lemp family suicides. Today the building is a restaurant and inn and offers ghost hunting, mystery dinner theater and other events. So are the ghosts still there? Visit to find out. Photo courtesy of Flickr / Paul Sableman

Mildred Lane Kemper Art Museum
1 Brookings Dr.
St. Louis, MO 63112
(314) 935-4523

Sure, an art museum may not appear all that unusual at face value. But this one also houses the Newman Money Museum. You’ll see an extensive library and artifacts following the history of money -- but the weird part is the talking, life-size Ben Franklin. Photo courtesy of Instagram / jeffcampagna via pikore.com.

Old St. Ferdinand Shrine
1 Rue St Francois
Florissant, MO 63031
(314) 837-2110

The saint related to your favorite heart-filled, candy-laden holiday is forever commemorated as a wax figure in the altar at this shrine. To make things even weirder, a St. Valentine relic sits inside the wax figure. It was a gift from the King of France to Bishop Louis William Valentine Dubourg in the early 19th century. Photo courtesy of Flickr / Mike Tigas

HealthWorks! Kids’ Museum St. Louis
1100 Macklind Ave.
St. Louis, MO 63110
(314) 241-7391

Want to see the world’s largest fiberglass teeth? Sure you do! You may have to have a kid with you to not feel completely out of place at a children’s museum, but that’s okay. As if giant teeth aren’t weird enough in themselves, they also light up and are interactive. How exactly fiberglass teeth become interactive, we’re not really sure -- which is why you have to go find out for yourself. Photo courtesy of Flickr / monica y garza

Saxquest
2114 Cherokee St.
St. Louis, MO 63118
(314) 664-1234

A museum devoted to...the saxophone? Yes, you heard right. On the second floor of this saxophone shop, you can take a self-guided tour of the museum dedicated to this instrument. From the baritone sax to the contrabass sax to the sopranino sax, you’ll see it all. Prepare to have your musical mind blown. Photo courtesy of Instagram / cmoneyks

Laclede’s Landing Wax Museum
720 N 2nd St.
St. Louis, MO 63102
(314) 241-1155

Part ice cream parlor, part...wax museum? Yep, the two concepts collide at Laclede’s Landing Wax Museum, and few things will weird you out more quickly. From monsters to movie stars to the life of Christ, you’ll see it all throughout these five levels of wax figures. Photo courtesy of Instagram / gmitchell91 via pikore.com.

Mastodon State Historic Site
1050 Charles J. Becker Drive
Imperial, MO 63052
(636) 464-2976

This isn’t just any state historic site. It’s the location of the Kimmswick Bone Bed, one of the largest ice age fossil deposits in the U.S. Many bones have been found here, including those of mastodons and giant ground sloths (can you imagine giant sloths walking around? Talk about creepy). You can explore a museum as well as hiking trails while you’re there. Your inner archaeologist will be thrilled. Photo courtesy of Flickr / John Shappell

Historic Museum of Torture Devices
301 E Broadway St.
Alton, IL 62002
(618) 465-3200

You can get your museum fix along with a side of morbidity at the Historic Museum of Torture Devices. Appropriately located in what is reputedly the most haunted town in Illinois, the museum features torture devices from all over the world. If that isn’t the ultimate strange destination, we don’t know what is. Photo courtesy of Flickr / Darren Snow