Hidden History of Downtown St. Louis by Maureen Kavanaugh

The city hosted the 1904 World's Fair and the 1904 Summer Olympics, attracting millions of visitors. Ragtime and blues music flourished in the city, with African Americans making major contributions also in jazz. Louis became home to two Major League Baseball teams. Its limited geographic area has inhibited its success in the 20th and 21st centuries because of the small tax base. Louis County in 1876 and became an independent city. Due to local political and economic disputes, the city separated from St. During the early 1870s, the Eads Bridge was constructed over the Mississippi River, and the city established several large parks, including Forest Park.

It suffered a corresponding rise in pollution of the river and waterfront. Louis had a small skirmish on its outskirts, but was held under Union control.Īfter the war, the city expanded its railroad connections and industrial activity. It also ruled that the Missouri Compromise was unconstitutional, contributing to the tensions causing the American Civil War. But, by the 1850s and the Dred Scott case, interpretations had changed and the US Supreme Court ruled against him. Many slaves gained freedom through such suits in the antebellum years. Missouri was a slave state, but the city's proximity to free states caused it to become a center for the filing of freedom suits. Some native-born Americans reacted with fear to the newcomers, adopting nativist sentiments. In the 1840s, it became a destination for massive immigration by Irish and Germans. Louis was ideally located to become the main base of interregional trade. With its connection through the Ohio River to the east, the Mississippi to the south and north, and the Missouri to the west, St. The city played a small role in the American Revolutionary War and became part of the U.S. The city grew in population due to its location as a trading post on the Mississippi River, as the western fur trade was lucrative. It attracted French settlers leaving Illinois after their defeat in the Seven Years' War. Spain took over in 1763 and a trading company led by Pierre Laclede and Auguste Chouteau established the settlement of St. Starting in the late 17th century, French explorers arrived. Louis began with the settlement of the area by Native American mound builders who lived as part of the Mississippian culture from the 9th century to the 15th century, followed by other migrating tribal groups.

Hidden History of Downtown St. Louis by Maureen Kavanaugh