St. Louis

About St. Louis

St. Louis is a historic river city in eastern Missouri, set on the west bank of the Mississippi River just south of where the Missouri River joins it. French fur traders Pierre Laclède and Auguste Chouteau founded the settlement in 1764 and named it for King Louis IX of France. After the Louisiana Purchase in 1803, St. Louis became the launching point for the Lewis and Clark expedition and the Gateway to the West, as steamboats, pioneers and fur traders passed through on their way to the frontier. By 1904 it was the fourth largest city in the country and hosted both the World's Fair and the first Olympic Games held in the United States.

Today the city has about 280,000 residents within its boundaries and nearly three million in the metro area. Its skyline is defined by the Gateway Arch, the 630-foot stainless steel monument completed in 1965, the tallest human-made monument in the Western Hemisphere. St. Louis is known for its brick neighborhoods, its blues and ragtime history, toasted ravioli, gooey butter cake and St. Louis-style pizza, and for being the home of Anheuser-Busch, whose historic brewery still offers tours with its Clydesdales.

The city is remarkably rich in free attractions. Forest Park, larger than New York's Central Park, holds the Saint Louis Zoo, the Saint Louis Art Museum, the Missouri History Museum and the Science Center, all free to enter. The Missouri Botanical Garden is one of the oldest and finest in the country, the City Museum is a wildly creative playground built from salvaged materials, and the Cathedral Basilica of Saint Louis glows with one of the world's largest mosaic collections. Fans pack Busch Stadium for the Cardinals, and the Delmar Loop and Soulard neighborhoods keep the nightlife going.