St. Louis - The Complete Getaway
St. Louis, sometimes written as Saint Louis, is known for its French and German heritage and Victorian past. Named for King Louis IX of France, our city has several nicknames, including the "Gateway City", "Gateway to the West", and "Mound City". It is called "Gateway to the West" for the many people who moved west through St. Louis via the Missouri River (first leg of the Oregon Trail) and other wagon trails. "Mound City" originated with the Native American burial mounds that once were common in the city.
Historically, European exploration of the area began nearly a century before the city was founded. Louis Joliet and Jacques Marquette, both French, traveled through the Mississippi River valley in 1673, and five years later, La Salle claimed the entire valley for France. He called it "Louisiana" after King Louis XIV; the French also called their region "Illinois Country."
In 1763, Pierre Laclède, his 13-year-old "stepson" Auguste Chouteau, and a small band of men traveled up the Mississippi from New Orleans. In November, they landed a few miles downstream of the river's confluence with the Missouri River at a site where wooded limestone bluffs rose forty feet above the river. The men returned to Fort de Chartres for the winter, but in February, Laclede sent Chouteau and thirty men to begin construction, laid out in a grid pattern as an imitation of New Orleans.
As St. Louis was a river city, it therefore developed in response to its relationship to the river. Development, particularly economic development, clustered around the settlement's Mississippi River bank on what was called "the levee." This long, smooth bank of land, which would later be paved with cobblestone, sloped into the river at an incline that was gradual enough to permit the the river vessels of the time to beach onto it in order to be unloaded and loaded. All products at this time were shipped to and from New Orleans, orienting St. Louis' 18th-century trade north-south.
The settlement began to grow quickly after word arrived that the 1763 Treaty of Paris had given England all the land east of the Mississippi. Frenchmen who had settled to the river's east moved across the water to "Laclede's Village." Other early settlements were established nearby at Saint Charles, the independent village of Carondelet (later annexed by St. Louis and now the southernmost part of the current City), Fleurissant (renamed Saint Ferdinand by the Spaniards and now Florissant), and Portage des Sioux. In 1765, St. Louis was made the capital of Upper Louisiana.
From 1766 to 1768, St. Louis was governed by the French lieutenant governor, Louis Saint Ange de Bellerive, who was not appointed by French or Spanish authorities, but by the leading residents of St. Louis. After 1768, St. Louis was governed by a series of governors appointed by Spanish authorities, whose administration continued even after Louisiana was secretly returned to France in 1800 by the Treaty of San Ildefonso.
A bronze statue of the city's namesake on horseback, Apotheosis of Saint Louis , was widely used as a symbol of the city before construction of the Arch. St. Louis was acquired from France by the United States under President Thomas Jefferson in 1803, as part of the Louisiana Purchase. The transfer of power from Spain was made official in a ceremony called "Three Flags Day." On March 8, 1804, the Spanish flag was lowered and the French one raised. On March 10, the French flag was replaced by the United States flag. French continued, along with English, to be one of the major spoken and written languages in St. Louis until the 1820s. St. Louis was legally incorporated as a town on November 9, 1809.
The Lewis and Clark Expedition left the St. Louis area in May 1804, reached the Pacific Ocean in the summer of 1805, and returned on 23 September 1806. Both Lewis and Clark lived in St. Louis after the expedition. Many other explorers, settlers, and trappers (such as Ashley's Hundred) would later take a similar route to the West.
The steamboat era began in St. Louis on July 27, 1817, with the arrival of the Zebulon M. Pike. Steamboats signified significant progress in river trade, as steam power permitted much more efficient and dependable river transportation. Unlike the hand-propelled barges and keel boats the preceded the steamboat as the choice vehicle of Mississippi River trade, steamboats could travel upriver, and against the current, just as easily as downriver. St. Louis was soon transformed into a bustling boom town, commercial center, and inland port. By the 1830s, it was common to see over 150 steamboats at the St. Louis levee at one time, and by the 1850s, St. Louis had become the largest U. S. city west of Pittsburgh, and the second-largest port in the country, with a commercial tonnage exceeded only by New York.
By the time of the 1900 census, St. Louis was the fourth largest city in the country. In 1904, the city hosted a World's Fair, which led the Olympic Games to be moved from Chicago, originally selected to host the games, to St. Louis to coincide with the Fair. With these games, the United States became the first English-speaking country to host the Olympics. Citizens of St. Louis still look back fondly on the events of 1904; there were several events held in 2004 to commemorate the centennial. Forest Park was the site of the 1904 World's fair, the Louisiana Purchase Exposition of 1904, and the 1904 Summer Olympics.
There are several museums and attractions in the city, including The St. Louis Art Museum, located in the City's premier park, Forest Park, and dating from the 1904 World's Fair, houses an impressive array of modern art and ancient artifacts, with an extensive collection of master works of several centuries, including paintings by Rembrandt, Van Gogh, Pissarro, Picasso, and many others.
The St. Louis Zoo enjoys the distinction of being the most visited zoo in the United States, having surpassed the San Diego Zoo in terms of popularity. It boasts many exhibits which are animal-friendly in terms of habitat. The zoo is located in Forest Park, adjacent to the St. Louis Art Museum.
St. Louis is the home of the world-renowned Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra which was founded in St. Louis in 1880--the second oldest orchestra in the nation--and which has over the years been honored with six Grammy Awards and fifty-six nominations. Historic Powell Symphony Hall on North Grand Boulevard has been the permanent home of the Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra since 1968.
The city of St. Louis has long been associated with great ragtime, jazz and blues music. Early rock and roll singer/guitarist Chuck Berry is a native St. Louisan and continues to perform there several times a year. Soul music artists Ike Turner and Tina Turner and jazz innovator Miles Davis began their careers in nearby East St. Louis, Illinois. St. Louis has also been a popular stop along the infamous Chitlin Circuit.
As you can see, St. Louis current culture is as rich as its history. In fact, there is so much to do that we have a web site available that gives you ideas for the first 25! Once you discover all that St. Louis has to offer, we know your will want to come and see it for yourself!
Source:
Wikipedia Encyclopedia
City of St. Louis - Attractions List
City of St. Louis - 25 Things to Do
City of St. Louis
