November, 1991
This world’s fair in 1904 celebrated the centennial of the Louisiana Purchase. Some of the buildings were saved and the waterways and grounds became Forest Park (similar in size and use to L.A.’s Griffith Park.) The Art Museum was built atop one hill. Art Hill was our teenage park to neck, if the police didn’t shine a light and run you off. The Jefferson Memorial Building has a room filled with Lindbergh’s memorabilia of his solo flight across the Atlantic.
St. Louis was founded in 1764 by a french man Laclede who named the city after Louis IX, crusader King of France. Laclede, helped by the Chouteau brothers established a town for fur trading. As people moved down the Illinois and Ohio Rivers to the Mississippi, St. Louis became a hub for westbound movement and later a train terminus. During the civil war, St. Louis was a divided city with brothers fighting brothers on the confederate and union sides.
When I was growing up, favorite places to show to visitors were the Anheuser Busch brewery, the nationally famous zoo, the Jewel Box, a glass structure with seasonal floral displays, the Old French & the New Catholic Cathedrals, and the Old Courthouse famous because of the Dred Scott case. A real treat was a day’s ride on the Admiral River boat down the Old Muddy Mississippi.
St. Louis is most famous for it’s Arch – The Gateway to the West. From atop its 630 ft.high arch one can view the splendor of the Ozark Mountains and across the river see the small towns a and farms of Missouri and Illinois.
Elaine's Memoirs 