St. Louis. The perfect getaway... all within reach.
Visitors
St. Louis History
St. Louisans love their city’s history and many are moving back to the downtown core to live. Urban revitilization is transforming historic warehouses and factories into chic lofts, hotels and must-try restaurants.
St. Louis' signature attraction – the Gateway Arch (www.gatewayarch.com) opened in 1965 to honor President Thomas Jefferson and his vision of a continental United States. The 630-foot tall Arch, the Museum of Westward Expansion and the historic Old Courthouse make up the Jefferson National Expansion Memorial, a National Park Service site that hugs the banks of the Mississippi River.
Before the European explorers traveled down the great river, the rich land that would become St. Louis was home to the Mississippians, a mighty Indian civilization of mound builders. At its height, more than 20,000 people lived in the fertile river valley. When that culture mysteriously disappeared during Europe’s Middle Ages, only their huge earthen structures were left, earning St. Louis one of its earliest nicknames, “Mound City.” Today’s visitors can explore that lost civilization at the Cahokia Mounds State Historic Site (www.cahokiamounds.com), a U.N. World Heritage Site.
Founded by French fur traders in 1764, St. Louis was a French and Spanish settlement built at a strategically important spot near the confluence of the Mississippi and Missouri rivers. The founders named the city for Louis IX, the Crusader King of France. France again regained rights to St. Louis and the west in 1800 from the Spanish, but Napoleon sold the Louisiana Territory to President Thomas Jefferson in 1803 without taking possession. Overnight the size of the United States had doubled.
When Jefferson sent explorers Meriwether Lewis & William Clark from St. Louis to chart the new Louisiana Territory in 1804, more than 1,000 people, mostly French, Spanish, Indian and free and slave blacks, lived in the city that was the center of the fur trade in America. After the triumphant explorers returned from the Pacific with their Corps of Discovery, St. Louis became the last stop for mountain men and trappers heading to the newly opened frontier. St. Louis’ booming fur trade lasted until 1840, but the westward movement of Americans through St. Louis – “the gateway to the west” – was to last for many more years. For decades, entrepreneurs would make fortunes in St. Louis by selling goods to pioneers and adventurers who gathered their supplies and headed west for land, gold and glory.
The first steamboat arrived in St. Louis in 1817, heralding a new era of commerce and travel along the Mississippi River. Soon it was common to see more than 100 steamboats lining the cobblestone levee during the day. This was the Mississippi River Mark Twain came to know as a riverboat pilot and later as an author. In 1849, a deadly fire destroyed one-third of the city when the steamboat White Cloud exploded on the riverfront. Two historic structures – the Old Courthouse and Old Cathedral (www.catholic-forum.com/churches/140stlouis) – both of which are open to visitors today, were saved by a quick-thinking fireman who lost his life setting an explosion that kept the flames away from both buildings.
The Civil War divided St. Louis. Missouri stayed in the Union as a slave state and abolitionists shared the streets of the booming city with slaveholders. The Dred Scott slavery trials – which began at the Old Courthouse downtown – led the nation to Civil War through their eventual outcome in the Supreme Court of the United States denying citizenship and rights to slaves. The area’s Civil War connections can be explored in more depth today at White Haven (www.nps.gov/ulsg), the Ulysses S. Grant National Historic Site, and at the Jefferson Barracks Historic Park (www.co.st-louis.mo.us/parks/j-b.html) where Grant served with other soldiers, including Robert E. Lee, prior to the war. Dred Scott trial reenactments take place regularly at the Old Courthouse, and the Black World History Wax Museum offers a look at famous African-American Missourians, many of whom had a connection to the troubled times. For more information on Missouri’s involvement in the Civil War, click on www.mocivilwar.org.
In 1874, the completion of the Eads Bridge across the Mississippi heralded a new day for the Iron Horse. As railroads grew, steamboat traffic declined. St. Louis continued to prosper as a major industrial center with more than 100 breweries operating in the city. The largest, Anheuser-Busch (www.budweisertours.com), is still around today, and the brewery in South St. Louis is the North American headquarters for Belgian-based Anheuser-Busch InBev. Visitors can still enjoy free tours of the historic brewing complex just minutes south of the Arch. Brewing history is also explored at tours of the Schlafly Bottleworks (www.schlafly.com).
Clothing and shoe manufacturers also thrived in the city, creating a garment industry that rivaled New York and Chicago. Today the former garment district, located along Washington Avenue downtown, is alive with new residential loft developments, restaurants, cutting-edge retail, nightclubs and the quirky attraction called City Museum (www.citymuseum.org), built in the former International Shoe warehouse. This is the St. Louis the world called, “first in shoes, first in booze and last in the American League,” a reference to the St. Louis Browns baseball club.
New immigrants changed the face of St. Louis throughout the 19th century. Joining the French, Spanish, Indian and African descendants were Germans who settled in St. Louis and along the Rhine-like Missouri River valley, Irish who escaped the famine on their island, Italians who worked the clay mines and newcomers from many nations who heard about the great city on the Mississippi where fortunes could be made.
By 1890, the U.S. Census declared that the frontier had closed and America held no more unexplored and undiscovered lands. To honor St. Louis’ role in the westward expansion of the United States, civic leaders planned a grand World’s Fair – the Louisiana Purchase Exposition, which took place in 1904. The celebration, held in Forest Park (stlouis.missouri.org/citygov/parks/forestpark), attracted 20 million visitors and exhibits from 43 countries over seven months. The park was transformed into a glittering expanse of palaces and attractions. Popular new foods, including the ice cream cone and iced tea, were introduced to a wide public at the fair. Scott Joplin’s new ragtime music enthralled visitors and the song (and later the Judy Garland movie) “Meet Me in St. Louis” summed up the most glorious time St. Louis had ever seen. The fair, and the 1904 Olympic Games, which took place on the fairgrounds and at Washington University that same summer, defined St. Louis as a world-class city. The legacy of the Fair is explored in a permanent exhibit at the Missouri History Museum. Joplin’s life and music are interpreted at the Scott Joplin House (www.mostateparks.com/scottjoplin.htm).
The first International Balloon Race was held in St. Louis in 1908 and less than 20 years later aviation was still in the forefront when Charles Lindbergh captured the world’s imagination by crossing the Atlantic non-stop. His 1927 solo flight from New York to Paris took place in an airplane nicknamed “Spirit of St. Louis” thanks to the financial backing of local businessmen. Aviation continues to play a major role in St. Louis today with Boeing’s military manufacturing operations located in the area. Visitors can learn more about flight and space travel at Boeing’s Prologue Room (www.boeing.com/companyoffices/aboutus/tours/prologueroom), at the Challenger Learning Center and at the Saint Louis Science Center (www.slsc.org) in Forest Park.
St. Louis’ love of its past is also reflected in the number of grand historic homes open for tours throughout the year. The Campbell House Museum (www.campbellhousemuseum.org) and Tower Grove House have re-opened after extensive historical renovations. The Eugene Field House (www.eugenefieldhouse.org), Cupples House, the Chatillon-DeMenil Mansion and White Haven are other excellent examples of St. Louis’ past. Check the individual listings in this guide for details on these and other homes and historic sites.
