The city of St. Louis stretches along the Mississippi River for 19 mi and covers a land area of 61.9 sq mi. St. Louis has been expanding to the west almost from the time of its founding, with its downtown core slowly moving away from the Mississippi and its population migrating to ever distant suburbs. Today the central city is surrounded by a hodgepodge of small cities.

The spectacular Gateway Arch stands at the river’s edge on the site where Saint Louis was founded more than two centuries ago. The 192-m (630-ft) high city landmark, completed in 1965, is the focal point of the Jefferson National Expansion Memorial Historic Site and commemorates the city’s role as a major gateway to the West during the 19th century. Within the historic site, which has undergone large-scale redevelopment since the 1950s, are two noted 19th-century buildings: the Basilica of Saint Louis-King and the Old Courthouse, where the Dred Scott case, an early test of the rights of blacks, was argued. Another extensive riverside project, also completed in the 1960s, is the 50,000-seat Busch Stadium. Laclede’s Landing, a development north of the arch, originally was planned to include housing but has instead filled with mainly gift shops, restaurants, nightclubs, and a few tourist attractions.

The central business district—downtown St. Louis—lies just west of the Gateway Arch. Market Street, the main downtown thoroughfare, extends from east to west through downtown and separates the northern and southern sections of the city. Just west of downtown, Market Street forms the main axis of Memorial Plaza, site of the major public buildings in St. Louis. Dominating the plaza are the Civil Courts Building, City Hall, the recently renovated Henry W. Kiel Municipal Auditorium, and the Soldiers Memorial Building. Near Memorial Plaza is Aloe Plaza, the site of a magnificent group of fountains designed by noted Swedish American sculptor Carl Milles. The Wainwright Building, a forerunner of the modern skyscraper, is in the downtown area; designed by Louis Sullivan, it was completed in 1891. The Cervantes Convention Center and the Trans World Dome at America’s Center occupy redeveloped land on either side of Seventh Street on the northern fringe of the central business district. Two urban malls, the multi-storied St. Louis Center and the very popular St. Louis Union Station, are also located downtown.

North and south of downtown St. Louis, tenements, row houses, and one-family dwellings merge with industrial areas. Centered on Forest Park, in a section near the city’s western limits known as the Central West End, are tall apartment buildings, mansions, and tree-shaded streets, all of which make up the city’s most fashionable residential district. Overlooking Forest Park is Hospital Row, a group of medical buildings that constitute one of the nation’s leading medical centers. North of Lindell Boulevard, which forms the northern edge of Forest Park, is one of the city’s large areas of black population. South of Forest Park are areas inhabited primarily by persons of Italian and German descent. The Anheuser Busch brewery in southern St. Louis covers seven city blocks. Nearby along South Broadway is Soulard Market, where fruits and vegetables from surrounding farms are sold. West of the market, many of the elegant homes in the Lafayette Square neighborhood, formerly in decrepit condition, have been restored.

The St. Louis metropolitan area consists of the city proper, six Missouri counties (St. Louis, St. Charles, Jefferson, Franklin, Lincoln, and Warren), and five Illinois counties (St. Clair, Madison, Clinton, Monroe, and Jersey). It covers a land area of 6,125 sq mi. The almost entirely urbanized St. Louis County lies to the north, west, and south of the city and contains two-fifths of the area’s entire population. Further out is a belt of economically varied incorporated cities, some quite small. Clayton is the seat of St. Louis County and the largest commercial and office center outside the city core. Ladue and Chesterfield are upscale communities where many of the region’s wealthiest families live. Creve Coeur and Westport, commercial and industrial towns, are where many of the county residents work in office and industrial parks. St. Charles County, Missouri’s fastest-growing county during the 1980s, is filling up rapidly as new subdivisions spread along Interstate 70.

The metropolitan counties to the east of the Mississippi River in Illinois are home to both industry and fertile farmlands. The only heavily urbanized sections lie close to the river in St. Clair County, site of East Saint Louis, and Madison County. The economy of East Saint Louis has been depressed since the 1960s, and the city is plagued by crime, deteriorated housing, and declining property values. Several small cities have split off from East Saint Louis, taking large factories and much of the tax base with them.

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Official Website of the City of Saint Louis, Missouri
City Hall
1200 Market St.
St. Louis, MO 63103

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