Saint Louis (l

`ĭs), city (1990 pop. 396,685), independent and in no county, E Mo., on the Mississippi River below the mouth of the Missouri; inc. as a city 1822. St. Louis has long been a major industrial and transportation hub. It is a leading rail and trucking center, and its airport and river port are among the country's busiest. Its industries produce a variety of manufactures, including chemicals; consumer goods; motor vehicles and parts; electronic components; foods and beverages; textiles; shoes; paper, plastic, and metal products; paints; soap and detergents; hardware; and pharmaceuticals. St. Louis is also a wholesale, banking, and financial center.

Institutions and Landmarks

The city has a noted symphony orchestra, a municipal opera, a large botanical garden, and over 30 educational institutions, including Saint Louis Univ., Washington Univ., three theological seminaries, and a branch of the Univ. of Missouri. The city's large Forest Park has an open-air theater, an art museum, a zoo, a planetarium, and the Jefferson memorial building, which recalls the Louisiana Purchase Exposition of 1904 (the "St. Louis Fair"). Located in the city are two museums of contemporary art, the Pulitzer Foundation for the Arts and the Contemporary Art Museum. St. Louis is also home to the National League's Cardinals, the National Football League's Rams, and the National Hockey League's Blues.

The major attraction is Gateway Arch (erected in 1965), a stainless steel arch, 630 ft (192 m) high, designed by Eero Saarinen Saarinen, Eero (ā`rō sä`rĭnĕn), 1910–61, Finnish-American architect, grad. Yale (B.A.
..... Click the link for more information. . Standing on the banks of the Mississippi, it symbolizes St. Louis as the gateway to the West. The Jefferson National Expansion Memorial, of which the arch is a part, was established in 1935 to preserve such historical buildings as the old courthouse (1839–64), where the Dred Scott Case Dred Scott Case, argued before the U.S. Supreme Court in 1856–57. It involved the then bitterly contested issue of the status of slavery in the federal territories. In 1834, Dred Scott, a black slave, personal servant to Dr. John Emerson, a U.S.
..... Click the link for more information. was tried (see National Parks and Monuments National Parks and Monuments

National Parks
Name Type¹ Location Year authorized Size

acres (hectares)

Description
Acadia NP SE Maine 1919 48,419 (19,603) Mountain and coast scenery.
..... Click the link for more information. , table). The poet Eugene Field Field, Eugene, 1850–95, American poet and journalist, b. St. Louis. After working on several Midwestern newspapers, in 1883 he became a columnist for the Chicago Daily News (later the Record).
..... Click the link for more information. was born in St. Louis; his house is a museum. New Cathedral is one of the country's largest Roman Catholic cathedrals. The massive Union Station, once the country's largest railroad terminal, now houses shops and a hotel.

History

The site of the city was chosen (1763) by Pierre LaClede for a fur-trading post. To honor Louis XV of France, it was named for his "name" saint, Louis IX of France. Transferred to the Spanish in 1770, it was retroceded to France in the time of Napoleon I and then sold to the United States along with the other lands of the Louisiana Purchase Louisiana Purchase, 1803, American acquisition from France of the formerly Spanish region of Louisiana.

Reasons for the Purchase

The revelation in 1801 of the secret agreement of 1800, whereby Spain retroceded Louisiana to France, aroused uneasiness
..... Click the link for more information. .

St. Louis, the gateway to the Missouri valley and the West, was the market and supply point for fur traders, mountain men mountain men, fur trappers and traders in the Rocky Mts. during the 1820s and 30s. Their activities opened that region of the United States to general knowledge.
..... Click the link for more information. , and explorers (including Lewis and Clark). The town grew rapidly after the War of 1812, when immigrants came in numbers to settle the West. St. Louis grew to be one of the greatest U.S. river ports; even after the railroads arrived in the 1850s, the river steamers remained extremely important.

The city was at the height of its population immediately following World War II. Between 1950 and 1990 the central city population decreased by half, and industry declined significantly in the same period. While many of the outlying suburbs grew steadily and developed industries, some, such as East Saint Louis East Saint Louis (l`ĭs), city (1990 pop. 40,944), St. Clair co., SW Ill.
..... Click the link for more information. , have been marked by high unemployment and poverty.

Bibliography

See E. M. Coyle, Saint Louis (2d ed. 1970) and St. Louis Treasures (1986).

Saint Louis

City (pop., 2000: 348,189), east-central Missouri, U.S. Located on the Mississippi River below its confluence with the Missouri River, it was founded by Auguste Chouteau in 1764 as a trading post and was named for King Louis IX of France. It became the crossroads of westward expansion for exploring parties, fur-trading expeditions, and pioneers traveling the Santa Fe and Oregon trails. Since the 19th-century steamboat era and the arrival of the railroads in the 1850s, it has been a major transportation hub. Its diversified industries include brewing, food processing, and the manufacture of aircraft. The largest city in the state, it is home to many educational institutions, including Washington University and St. Louis University. The emblem of the city is its Gateway Arch, designed by Eero Saarinen.