Welcome to St. Louis, MO
The city of St. Louis is located along the eastern border of the state of Missouri. Its resourceful location on the Mississippi River attracted the first European explorers as early as 1673, but it wasn’t for another 100 years that a French team of developers headed by Pierre Laclede and Auguste Chouteau would map the area and lay out plans for a city that would thrive on river trade. The team plotted streets in a grid pattern stemming from the river, in imitation of New Orleans. The settlement prospered as it passed through the hands of the French to the British in the 1763 Treaty of Paris, and eventually to the hands of the United States as part of the Louisiana Purchase in 1803. The arrival of powerful steamboats in the Mississippi River trade brought St. Louis into the forefront as an inland port and commercial center. On any given day it was common to see 150 steamboats docked at the city’s levee at one time. St. Louis was incorporated as a city in 1822, and by 1850, it was the largest city west of Pittsburgh and had one of the largest U.S. ports, second only to that of New York.
Possibly the one thing St. Louis is most famous for is its role in the exploration of the West. Because of its location as the “western-most eastern city,” St. Louis was a destination for many people emigrating from the East Coast, including Germans, Bohemians, Italians, and the Irish. St. Louis was also the starting point for the important Lewis and Clark Expedition in 1804, which paved the way for further westward travel and marked St. Louis as the “Gateway to the West,” or the “Gateway City.” The construction of the city’s icon, the Gateway Arch, in 1960 commemorates the city’s prominence in this era. In the same vein of exploration, the St. Louis Chamber of Commerce secured funding for the first non-stop transatlantic flight, flown by Charles Lindbergh in his plane named “The Spirit of St. Louis” in 1927.
Throughout its 3 centuries of history St. Louis has seen its fair share of bad times, but the city has always bounced back with vigor and today it is one of the most beloved cities in the U.S. More than 350,000 people live within St. Louis proper, and more than 2.8 people live within the St. Louis metropolitan area. Residents of St. Louis enjoy the city’s wide selection of world-class attractions including museums, art galleries, theatres, and music venues. The city’s long history of multiculturalism is reflected in its cultural centers and eclectic restaurants that appeal to every mood and every taste. St. Louis maintains Forest Park, the largest urban park in the nation, which features 7.5 miles of biking, jogging and skating paths, a skating rink, and lakes. And for sports lovers, St. Louis is home to MLB’s St. Louis Cardinals, NFL’s St. Louis Rams, and NHL’s St. Louis Blues.
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