by REPuckett

Created on: January 21, 2009   Last Updated: February 04, 2009

St. Louis, Missouri has played a major role in the history of our great nation. Going anywhere in this magnificent city you are walking in the footsteps of history. To see some of the more interesting and historically significant sites in St. Louis you should begin exactly where the city originally began more than 245 years ago. In 1763, a Frenchman from New Orleans, Pierre Laclede Liguest, made his landing and, noting the considerable elevation above the river, he saw some promise for settlement. His actual landing site is near the east end of Walnut and the south leg of the Gateway Arch. After seeing this area, Laclede said, "I have found a situation where I am going to form a settlement which might become, hereafter, one of the finest cities in America."

After re-founding the city for yourself in your imagination at this site, take a walk over to the Gateway Arch. It is the centerpiece monument of The Jefferson National Expansion Memorial and is one of the more recent additions to the city being completed in 1967. Despite its reasonable youth it is no less historically significant than any other relic in the city. The unique architectural design of the Gateway Arch is such to appropriately honor the city for it's role in history as the "Gateway to the West" during our nation's great westward expansion. While above ground, don't forget to go below ground and visit the museum where you will find a wealth of knowledge of the history of St. Louis and our expansion westward.

From there one must only walk a short distance west to Walnut and 4th Street where the cities first fort was located. It served as the first line of defense for St. Louis which was known as Laclede's Village in1764. There are currently no plaques or monuments situated at this location to commemorate it's importance. Just having the knowledge of what once stood there, it is not difficult to take yourself back in your mind and imagine what the local terrain and the fort once looked like.

Walking just one block north from there, you will find yourself looking at the Old Courthouse. The land on which it stands was originally owned by Auguste Chouteau. He donated it to the city for public use and construction on the original courthouse began in 1826. The Greek style architecture you see today was finished in 1862. The Old Courthouse also played an important role in our expansion westward by serving as a meeting and staging area for pioneers traveling westward. This is where they made their final

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