Introduction to St. Louis

Established as a French trading post in 1764, St. Louis served as a gateway to the west after the Louisiana Purchase and as a major port for steamboats traveling the Mississippi. Today the city's landmark is the soaring, shining steel Gateway Arch, designed by Eero Saarinen in 1966 to commemorate Thomas Jefferson's vision of westward expansion. Though visitors often make it their first stop, there's plenty more beckoning, including expansive Forest Park with its first-rate museums, one of the nation's top botanical gardens, and numerous attractions geared toward children, many of them free, making St. Louis a prime family destination.