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St. Louis (/ s eɪ n t ˈ l uː ɪ s, s ən t-/ saynt LOO-iss, sənt-) is an independent city in the U.S. state of Missouri.It is located near the confluence of the Mississippi and the Missouri rivers.
- Overview
- History
- The contemporary city
St. Louis, city, adjacent to but independent of St. Louis county, east-central Missouri, U.S. It lies on the west bank of the Mississippi River (bridged there at several points) opposite East St. Louis, Illinois, just south of the confluence of the Missouri River. The city’s boundaries have remained unchanged since 1876, when it became administrati...
The area was originally inhabited by mound builders of the Mississippian culture. The French explorers Jacques Marquette and Louis Jolliet passed by during their exploration of the Mississippi in 1673. In 1764 Pierre Laclède Liguest of New Orleans founded a fur-trading post on the site, which at the time was located in Spanish territory. It was laid out by Auguste Chouteau and named for the canonized king Louis IX of France. St. Louis was later retroceded (1800) to France and, following the Louisiana Purchase (1803), became part of the United States. In 1804 the Lewis and Clark Expedition departed from St. Louis on its great exploratory journey to the Pacific Northwest. The city was the seat of government for the Louisiana (1805) and Missouri (1812) territories.
With the arrival of steamboats in 1817, St. Louis began to grow rapidly and became an important river port. German and Irish immigrants settled there in the 19th century. It was the site of the Missouri constitutional convention (1820), but it ceased to serve as capital when statehood was attained (1821). It became the crossroads of westward expansion in the United States and an outfitting point for exploring parties, fur-trading expeditions, and pioneers traveling across the state to Independence and the start of the Santa Fe, California, and Oregon trails. In 1849 a cholera epidemic killed thousands, and a section of the city was destroyed by fire when a steamboat exploded on the riverfront. Railroads arrived in the 1850s, and by the 1870s they had mostly replaced the steamboats as the dominant means of transportation. During the American Civil War, St. Louis was kept under martial law while remaining a Union base.
The fur trade remained important until the mid-1800s, but during the latter half of the 19th century St. Louis developed as an industrial centre for brewing and manufacturing (including clothes, shoes, and iron). The Eads Bridge (1874; now a national historic landmark) connected the railroads across the Mississippi, and the city continued to be a major transportation hub. In 1904 the Louisiana Purchase Exposition (also known as the St. Louis World’s Fair) was held just west of the city in Forest Park to commemorate the centennial of the Louisiana Purchase. This event, in conjunction with the 1904 Olympic Games in the city, brought it international attention. Financial backing from St. Louis businessmen sponsored Charles A. Lindbergh’s historic 1927 nonstop solo flight across the Atlantic Ocean in the Spirit of St. Louis.
St. Louis’s population increased steadily during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Growth stagnated somewhat in the Great Depression of the 1930s but boomed again during World War II, and the population reached a peak of more than 850,000 in 1950. During that period, African Americans were a growing proportion of the newcomers. The city’s population subsequently declined rapidly. By 2000 it was only about two-fifths of its 1950 level, roughly comparable to what it had been in 1880. Most of those leaving the city were people of European ancestry who poured into the surrounding suburbs; those communities, in turn, quickly grew in size. The number of African Americans in St. Louis also dropped, but at a much slower rate, and by 2000 blacks constituted more than half of the city’s residents.
St. Louis remains a major transportation and distribution centre. The city is the second largest inland port in the country and is a major part of the Inland Waterway System. It is the northernmost point on the Mississippi that remains ice-free all year; major cargoes include grain, coal, petroleum products, and chemicals. St. Louis is also one of the country’s largest rail centres and has an international airport and an extensive network of interstate highways. The city is the headquarters for several major corporations. Services, including health care, finance and banking, telecommunications, airline operations, and education, are major contributors to the economy. Manufacturing is still a primary factor, and products include beer, chemicals, metal products, missiles, military aircraft, and automobiles. High-technology industries are also important, and an air force base is nearby in Illinois.
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Several institutions of higher education are in the metropolitan area. St. Louis University (1818) maintains the Pius XII Memorial Library, which preserves microfilm of Vatican Library treasures. Washington University (1853) was founded by William Greenleaf Eliot, grandfather of the poet T.S. Eliot, and St. Louis College of Pharmacy dates from 1864. The University of Missouri–St. Louis (1963) is just northwest of the city. Other schools include Lindenwood University in St. Charles (1827), Harris-Stowe State College (1857), Maryville University of St. Louis (1872), Webster University (1915), Fontbonne University (1923), and St. Louis Community College (1962).
The Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra (1880) is one of the oldest in the United States; the city also has an opera company and several theatre organizations. Jefferson National Expansion Memorial, built on the original village plat, is dominated by the 630-foot (192-metre) stainless-steel Gateway Arch (1965), designed by architect Eero Saarinen to commemorate St. Louis’s historic role as “Gateway to the West.” The site includes the Museum of Westward Expansion; the Old Cathedral (Basilica of St. Louis, King; 1831–34), which was granted a special indulgence by Pope Gregory XVI; and the Old Courthouse (1839–62; now a museum), which was the scene of two early trials in the Dred Scott slavery case (1847 and 1850) and contains murals by Carl Wimar. In Aloe Plaza stands Swedish sculptor Carl Milles’s fountain symbolizing the convergence of the Mississippi and Missouri rivers. The boyhood home of poet Eugene Field is now a toy museum. Forest Park is the site of several attractions, including an art museum (housed in a World’s Fair building), a history museum, a science centre, and the St. Louis Zoo, home to some 5,000 animals. The Missouri Botanical Garden has a traditional Japanese garden.
Recreational areas in the region include a number of state parks (Dr. Edmund A. Babler Memorial, Castlewood, Katy Trail, and Route 66) and state historic sites (First Missouri State Capitol [St. Charles], Scott Joplin House [home of the ragtime composer], Mastodon [a paleontological site], and Sandy Creek Covered Bridge). Several conservation areas are also nearby, including Rockwoods Reservation and August A. Busch Memorial Conservation Area. Across the river near Collinsville, Illinois, is Cahokia Mounds State Historic Site, a prehistoric Native American village. Jefferson Barracks Historic Park is south of the city. St. Louis is the home of the Cardinals (baseball) and Blues (ice hockey) professional sports teams. Several gambling casinos are located along the banks of the rivers.
- The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica
- Address: 200 Washington Ave. 1 to 2 hours. TIME TO SPEND. This national park and its famous arch are dedicated to the country's westward expansion.
- Address: 5595 Grand Drive. Free, Parks and Gardens, Sports, Recreation. TYPE. 2 hours to Half Day.
- Address: 4344 Shaw Blvd. Parks and Gardens. TYPE. 1 to 2 hours. TIME TO SPEND. Spread across 79 acres and home to more than 4,800 trees, the Missouri Botanical Garden delights visitors with displays like the Chinese Garden, the English Woodland Garden and the 14-acre Japanese Garden – one of the largest in North America.
- Address: 4431 Lindell Blvd. Free, Churches/Religious Sites. TYPE. 1 to 2 hours. TIME TO SPEND.
- Ride to the top of the Gateway Arch. A symbol of St. Louis and white western migration, the 630ft-high Gateway Arch, more than double the height of the Statue of Liberty, promotes the city’s historic role as the “Gateway to the West.”
- Fly down a 10-story slide at City Museum. Don’t you dare let the dull name put you off: City Museum might be the most fun you’ll have in St. Louis. Part playground, part architectural salvage, part art installation, this fun house is a wild ride – literally.
- Find your space in Forest Park. Clocking in at 1371 acres – almost 45% larger than Central Park in New York City – Forest Park is the green heart of St. Louis.
- Tour the Anheuser-Busch Brewery… Say what you will about Budweiser, but the lager remains one of the best-selling beers in the US. The Anheuser-Busch Brewery, a huge red-brick brewery complex, was opened by German immigrants in the 1850s, and the public has been allowed to gawk at the ornate interiors and production line for more than 130 years.
2024 Visitors Guide. Find inspiration for your next trip to St. Louis, from local favorites to world-renowned attractions. With our visitors guide, you can discover the best hotels, restaurants, attractions, events and other entertainment options in the Gateway City. Order your FREE copy today!
You can spend hours, even days, enjoying cultural institutions such as the Missouri History Museum, Saint Louis Art Museum, Saint Louis Science Center, Saint Louis Zoo and The Muny, an outdoor theater that has filled Forest Park with the sounds of Broadway for more than 100 years.
St Louis. Missouri, USA, North America. Slide into St Louis and revel in the unique vibe of the largest city in the Great Plains. Beer, bowling and baseball are some of the top attractions, but history and culture, much of it linked to the Mississippi River, are a vital part of the fabric. And, of course, there's the iconic Gateway Arch that ...
