St. Louis Arch - St. Louis, Missouri

DATE VISITED:  06/13/2015

HISTORICAL SITE:  Jefferson National Expansion Memorial Gateway Arch

LOCATION:  100 Washington Ave., St. Louis, St. Louis Co., Missouri

MARKER #:  87001423

 

DEDICATED:  May 28, 1987

“The Gateway Arch   Dedicated to the people of the United States May 25, 1968  Lyndon B. Johnson   President of the United States   The City of St. Louis, Missouri   The United States Territorial Expansion Memorial Commission   United States Department of the Interior, National Park Service”

PERSONAL REFLECTIONS: 

Dirk and I have been talking about going to St. Louis and seeing “the arch” for a while now and I was very excited. They are doing a lot of construction so whereas you would normally buy your tickets at the Arch itself, for the time being, you have to buy your tickets at the Courthouse. 

As an aside to this blog, but certainly not to history…this is the courthouse where the famous Dred Scott decision was made. An extremely simplified version…Dred Scott was a slave who sued for his freedom based on the fact that he resided on “free” soil. That lawsuit couldn’t be decided until a decision was made whether Dred Scott could even bring a lawsuit. It was decided that Dred Scott, or any other person of African ancestry could not claim citizenship in the United States and so had no rights to bring lawsuits. This decision caused even more unrest between the pro- and anti- slavery sides, pushing the US closer to civil war.

Inside the room where you purchase tickets, they have one of the “pods” used to ride to the top. Looking at it, trepidation started setting in. Written warnings about claustrophobia added to it. I’ve never known myself to be claustrophobic but I also don’t know of a time when that might have been challenged or discovered.

Anyway, as I said, it was with some trepidation I looked at the pod, seeing how small it was and that they expected up to 5 people to sit inside. Wow!

Then you walked towards the arch and you realize just how high 630 feet really is. All that being said…even if I had to keep my eyes closed on the way, nothing was stopping me from going up.

The monument is the tallest monument in the United States…taller than even the Washington 

Monument or Statue of Liberty. It has become the unofficial logo for the city and obviously, the most visited tourist attraction.

The idea behind the monument was a tribute to the role Thomas Jefferson, and others, had in the westward expansion. The National Park Service (NPS) oversaw the demolition of about 40 city blocks on the waterfront in preparation for the project. Demolition was complete in 1942, but the outbreak of WWII brought everything to a halt.

After the war, a design competition was held and out of 172 entries, some from huge architectural firms to small town architects with no experience, Eero Saarinen’s stainless-steel arch was chosen. It would represent the “gateway to the West”. Eero would not live to see even the first piece of the arch placed…he died of a cerebral hemorrhage in 1961.

President Eisenhower signed public law authorizing the spending of $3 federal dollars to each $1 raised by the city and in 1959, groundbreaking began.

Railroad tracks had to be rerouted and contracts for the construction of the arch and subterranean visitor center was awarded in 1962. The NPS also had to contract with another firm to provide the internal transportation.

The first stainless steel section was placed in February 1963 and the outer shell was completed in October 1965. The pod transporters were complete by 1968. There was an interim museum but the official one was completed in 1976. The formal dedication took place on May 25, 1968.

Eight pods are a “train”. There are leveling devices on each pod that adjusts the angle of the pod as it rises to the observation room at the top. It feels just like a Ferris wheel.

Both on the way up and back down again, we had 4 people in the pod and the only person to hit their head? I know, you’d expect it to be Dirk seeing that he’s 6’4”, but nope…it was me…probably the shortest out of the 4 people in the pod.

The observation room itself isn’t very big…only 7’ x 65’. They have these windows tilted so that you can look directly down. Not my favorite way to look but the view is spectacular. 

Across the Mississippi River is Illinois. I know that from personal experience trying to drive around St. Louis. A few wrong turns and you have the bridge to Illinois in front of you. A couple of times I was able to do some fancy driving and get myself out of the lane going across, but I got stuck once and had to go across…so I guess  you could say we visited Illinois too?

The view is well worth the hassle of getting tickets for reserved times and the wait in the “pod” line. I can’t say it was one of my bucket list items but it was one of those things I’ve been wanting to do.

Footnote...apology...Dirk learned first-hand how stressed I get when driving in an area that is crowded and I don't know where I'm going. Thanks for putting up with me.