Just 30 minutes west of downtown St. Louis, Chesterfield is a peaceful residential area offering beautiful homes and great schools. Known as the “City of Volunteers” due to its citizens’ involvement in helping the city, you’ll find several cultural outlets, historic villages, public parks and community initiatives. Everything this year is different, but at Mardi Gras we know that the show must go on —Carnival in the age of COVID, so to speak. But there’s nothing more important to us than the health and safety of you, our fellow revelers, our friends and our community. So we’ve been hard at work on a plan for a safe, responsible and fun 2021 Soulard Mardi Gras, in close consultation with local public health and other city officials. If there was ever a time we all need a reason to celebrate, it’s now.
The effects of suburbanization were exacerbated by the small geographical size of St. Louis due to its earlier decision to become an independent city, and it lost much of its tax base. During the 19th and 20th century, most major cities aggressively annexed surrounding areas as residential development occurred away from the central city; however, St. Louis was unable to do so. In the first part of the century, St. Louis had some of the worst air pollution in the United States. In April 1940, the city banned the use of soft coal mined in nearby states.
They reached the Pacific Ocean via the Columbia River in summer 1805. Both Lewis and Clark lived in St. Louis after the expedition.
St. Louis, like many Midwestern cities, expanded in the early 20th century due to industrialization, which provided jobs to new generations of immigrants and migrants from the South. It reached its peak population of 856,796 at the 1950 census. Suburbanization from the 1950s through the 1990s dramatically reduced the city’s population, as did restructuring of industry and loss of jobs.
In 1861, 28 civilians were killed in a clash with Union troops. The war hurt St. Louis economically, due to the Union blockade of river traffic to the south on the Mississippi River. The St. Louis Arsenal constructed ironclads for the Union Navy.
He found an elevated area overlooking the flood plain of the Mississippi River, not far south from its confluence with the Missouri and Illinois rivers. In addition to having an advantageous natural drainage system, there were nearby forested areas to supply timber and grasslands which could easily be converted for agricultural purposes. This place, declared Laclède, “might become, hereafter, one of the finest cities in America.” He dispatched his 14-year-old stepson, Auguste Chouteau, to the site, with the support of 30 settlers in February 1764. In 1764, after France lost the Seven Years’ War, Pierre Laclède and his stepson Auguste Chouteau founded what was to become the city of St. Louis. The Chouteau brothers gained a monopoly from Spain on the fur trade with Santa Fe. French colonists used African slaves as domestic servants and workers in the city. ) is the second-largest city in Missouri, and sits on the western bank of the Mississippi River, which forms the state line between Illinois and Missouri.
Steamboats first arrived in St. Louis in 1817, improving connections with New Orleans and eastern markets. St. Louis was incorporated as a city in 1822, and continued to develop largely due to its busy port and trade connections. St. Louis was transferred to the French First Republic in 1800 , then sold by the French to the U.S. in 1803 as part of the Louisiana Purchase. St. Louis became the capital of, and gateway to, the new territory. Shortly after the official transfer of authority was made, the Lewis and Clark Expedition was commissioned by President Thomas Jefferson. The expedition departed from St. Louis in May 1804 along the Missouri River to explore the vast territory. There were hopes of finding a water route to the Pacific Ocean, but the party had to go overland in the Upper West.
Among the earliest is the Basilica of St. Louis, King of France . The Basilica was built between 1831 and 1834 in the Federal style. Cyril and Methodius Church in the Romanesque Revival style and Christ Church Cathedral in the Gothic Revival style. The architecture of St. Louis exhibits a variety of commercial, residential, and monumental architecture. St. Louis is known for the Gateway Arch, the tallest monument constructed in the United States at 630 feet . The Arch pays homage to Thomas Jefferson and St. Louis’s position as the gateway to the West. Architectural influences reflected in the area include French Colonial, German, early American, and modern architectural styles.
The Missouri River merges with the Mississippi River 15 river miles north of Downtown St. Louis, forming the fourth-longest river system in the world. In 2019, the estimated population of St. Louis City was 300,576, and of the go to website bi-state metropolitan area, 2,804,724. Greater St. Louis is the largest metropolitan area in Missouri, second-largest in Illinois, seventh-largest in the Great Lakes Megalopolis, and the 22nd-largest in the United States.
He established a public corridor of 300 feet fronting the river, but later this area was released for private development. The founding of St. Louis was preceded by a trading business between Gilbert Antoine de St. Maxent and Pierre Laclède in the fall of 1763. St. Maxent invested in a Mississippi River expedition led by Laclède, who searched for a location to base the company’s fur trading operations. Genevieve was already established as a trading center, he sought a place less prone to flooding.
Many other explorers, settlers, and trappers (such as Ashley’s Hundred) would later take a similar route to the West. By 1765, the city began receiving visits from representatives of the English, French, and Spanish governments. The Indians in the area expressed dissatisfaction at being under the control of British forces. One of the great Ottawa chieftains, Pontiac, was angered by the change of power marketing to millennials and the potential for the British to come into their lands. He desired to fight against them but many of the St. Louis inhabitants refused. Laclède arrived at the future town site two months later and produced a plan for St. Louis based on the New Orleans street plan. The default block size was 240 by 300 feet, with just three long avenues running parallel to the west bank of the Mississippi.
The city hired inspectors to ensure that only anthracite was burned. By 1946, the city had reduced air pollution by about three-quarters. In the first half of the 20th century, St. Louis was a destination in the Great Migration of African Americans from the rural South seeking better opportunities. During World War II, the NAACP campaigned to integrate war factories. In 1964, civil rights activists protested at the construction of the Gateway Arch to publicize their effort to gain entry for African Americans into the skilled trade unions, where they were underrepresented. The Department of Justice filed the first suit against the unions under the Civil Rights Act of 1964. On August 22, 1876, the city of St. Louis voted to secede from St. Louis County and become an independent city.
The President of the Board of Aldermen is the second highest-ranking official in the city. The President is the presiding officer of the Board of Aldermen which is the legislative branch of government of the city. While you may still have to deal with some sluggish rush-hour traffic, the St. Louis congestion is relatively modest compared to similar metro areas. Census Bureau, St. Louis consistently ranks below the national average commute time to work. It’s also known as a 20-minute city, due to the fact that its popular spots are in the same area with little-to-no travel time needed to hop between them.
Industrial production continued to increase during the late 19th century. Major corporations such as the Anheuser-Busch brewery and Ralston-Purina company were established. Settled by many Southerners in a slave state, the city was split in political sympathies and became polarized during the American Civil War.