St. Louis, a vibrant and bustling community, has long been dependent on the Mississippi River for trade and commerce, travel, and migration. Within the past century the city's downtown neighborhood has experienced the growth and change that has shaped this Midwestern city into one of the most notable cities in America. Downtown St. Louis is illustrated with over 200 vintage images that present a history as diverse as the residents of the area. Authors Albert Montesi and Richard Deposki survey St. Louis's downtown area, from a pioneer settlement as a fur trading post, to a major American city....
St. Louis, a vibrant and bustling community, has long been dependent on the Mississippi River for trade and commerce, travel, and migration. Within th...
Lafayette Square has always been a reflection of the life and times of St. Louis, Missouri. Originally a common land where cattle grazed and people hunted game, the area was set aside as a public park just before the Civil War. Following that era, Lafayette Square was developed into a showplace for the Victorian era, featuring fantastic gardens, gazebos, a bandstand, an aquarium, and a boathouse. On May 27, 1896, a tornado plowed through the area and destroyed most of its foliage and buildings. Following this tragedy, many homeowners fled to the Central West End, and the once elegant...
Lafayette Square has always been a reflection of the life and times of St. Louis, Missouri. Originally a common land where cattle grazed and people hu...
In the late 1600s and early 1700s, the French established forts, such as Fort de Chartres, in the mid-Mississippi Valley, as well as villages, such as River des Peres and Mine la Motte. Ste. Genevieve was founded in the late 1740s when French Canadians settled on the rich soil of the floodplain. They built homes, cultivated crops (including corn and cotton), and mined the rich veins of lead and the bluffs for stone. The great flood of 1785, referred to by early residents as l'annee des grandes eaux, swept away the tiny village, and the mighty Mississippi River reclaimed its riverbed, forcing...
In the late 1600s and early 1700s, the French established forts, such as Fort de Chartres, in the mid-Mississippi Valley, as well as villages, such as...
In the 1860s, with bustling river traffic alive with boats and men, St. Louis was a picturesque river town. This was the St. Louis that Mark Twain, Edna Ferber, and T.S. Eliot wrote about: a town on the mysterious but profitable Mississippi. After the Civil War, profits from contracts with the Union and river trading brought increased wealth to the community. Prosperous residents were challenged to find land that could hold their prestigious mansions and gardens. Their eyes turned to the western section of the town, which in time became known as the Central West End.
In the 1860s, with bustling river traffic alive with boats and men, St. Louis was a picturesque river town. This was the St. Louis that Mark Twain, Ed...
