Visited: Sept 2020
Nearby city: St. Louis, MO
"[The Gateway Arch] is a great span, a soaring curve in the sky that links the rich heritage of yesterday with the richer future of tomorrow."
-Vice President Hubert Humphrey, at the dedication of the Arch May 25, 1968
St. Louis - "the Gateway to the West" - is home to the iconic Gateway Arch. The gigantic arch, designed in 1947 and built in the mid-1960s, has become a symbol of the city and attracts approximately 2 million visitors a year. The area, originally designated as the Jefferson National Expansion Memorial, was re-designated as a National Park on February 22, 2018.
Gateway Arch, a weighted catenary arch, is the largest arch in the world. It stands 630 ft tall, and is 630 ft wide at its base. The legs are 54 ft wide at the base, and narrows to 17 ft at the top of the arch. It was designed by Finnish-American architect Eero Saarinen and structural engineer Hannskarl Bandel.
The impressive and awe-inspiring arch absolutely dominates the horizon.
St. Louis was an obvious location to build a monument dedicated to the country's history of western expansion and exploration. St. Louis was founded in 1764 by French fur traders Gilbert Antoine de St. Maxent, Pierre Laclede and Auguste Chouteau. They named it after French King Louis IX. It was the first permanent European settlement in North America west of the Mississippi River. St. Louis became a part of the United States by virtue of the Louisana Purchase in 1803. The city served as the point of embarkation for the famous Lewis and Clark Expedition. It also served as the starting point for the great pioneer trails to the west (California Trail, Oregon Trail, and Santa Fe Trail). The city quickly became the most important port along the Mississippi River, and was the fourth largest city in the nation between 1870-1920. St. Louis hosted the Olympics in 1904. Many immigrants (from Germany, Ireland, and Italy) settled in St. Louis. This contribution, and its French heritage, led to a diverse and vibrant culture.
The visitor center has lots of great exhibits about the story of America's expansion into the West. Make sure to devote some time to go through the entire museum. It's well worth it.
me standing in St. Louis 😀
me standing in Idaho 😀
Native American artifacts
old coins
pioneer items/artifacts
stagecoach
The highlight of visiting the arch is taking the tram (or elevator) to the top of the arch. It's a very unique system. The pods are rather small, and I'm not going to lie. The ride to the top is kind of scary. 😬😆
yes, I was scared 😆
the elevator to the top. Kind of looks like a futuristic toilet 😉
The views from the top are great.
looking west towards downtown St. Louis and beyond
looking east towards Mississippi River and Illinois
looking down at the grounds and the Old Courthouse
Busch Stadium, home of baseball team St. Louis Cardinals
sculpture called "The Captains' Return" depicting Lewis and Clark
The National Park also includes the Old Courthouse.
This building served as the federal and state courthouse for most of the 19th century and early 20th century. The courthouse was the site of the infamous Dred Scott case in 1846. Dred Scott was born a slave in Virginia, and grew up in Alabama and Missouri (which entered the Union as a slave state in 1820). At 30 years old, Dred Scott was sold to US Army Surgeon Dr. John Emerson. Emerson, taking Scott with him, moved from Missouri to the free-states of Illinois and then Minnesota (in territory that had abolished slavery). Dr. Emerson passed away in 1843, and Emerson's wife inherited Scott and his wife and children. Emerson's widow returned to St. Louis and leased out the Scotts as hired slaves. In 1846, Scott attempted to purchase him and his family's freedom, but Ms. Emerson refused. Therefore, Scott sued for his freedom in Missouri court. Scott argued, under the "once free, always free" doctrine, that his presence and residence in free states (such as Illinois and Minnesota) necessitated his family's emancipation. After two trials, a jury ruled in Scott's favor. However, on appeal, the Missouri Supreme Court reversed the decision and held that the Scotts were still legally slaves and should have sued for their freedom when they resided in a free state. Scott appealed his case to the US Supreme Court.
In 1857, the Supreme Court, in a vote of 7-2, ruled against Scott and handed down a stunning decision. The opinion, authored by Chief Justice Roger Taney, ruled that Scott, and all African-Americans, whether slave or free, were not US citizens and not afforded the rights guaranteed by the US Constitution. Furthermore, the Ordinance of 1787 (which abolished slavery in the Northwest Territory, including the states of Illinois and Minnesota) could not confer freedom or citizenship to African-Americans living there, and that the 1820 Missouri Compromise was unconstitutional. The decision had the effect of legalizing slavery throughout the entire country. The decision was extremely controversial and led to increased tensions between pro-slavery and anti-slavery groups in the country and facilitated the beginning of the Civil War. The decision was ultimately overturned by passage of the Thirteenth and Fourteenth Amendments. Historians and legal scholars have universally condemned it as the Supreme Court's worst decision.
You can take tours of the Courthouse and learn about the decision and more of the history of St. Louis.
statue of Dred Scott and his wife Harriet
At only 90.9 acres, Gateway Arch is by far the smallest of the 63 National Parks managed by the NPS. Obviously, there are no real opportunities for camping, hiking, and seeing wildlife etc. It's certainly not your standard National Park, but it's not entirely unique. It's not the only park focused on a man-made structure (Mesa Verde), and it is not the only National Park located in an urban setting (Hot Springs, Indiana Dunes, Cuyahoga Valley). Some think that bestowing the arch with National Park status is undeserved. I understand where that argument comes from, however, I think it is important to preserve and protect urban greenspaces as national parks, as well as majestic natural environments and ecosystems. Furthermore, the Arch celebrates the American dream, helps tell the story of American westward expansion, and represents the collective American spirit.
It is well worth a visit. For more info: https://www.nps.gov/jeff/index.htm
