42. Gateway Arch National Park, Missouri

               Welcome back to our blog on the National Park Service.  In this post we are visiting our newest and smallest addition to the “Big 60” National Parks, Gateway Arch National Park in St. Louis.

Entrance sign with a view of the Gateway Arch.

BACKGROUND:

               Since the Louisiana Purchase in 1803, the city of St. Louis had been seen as the gateway to the west.  To commemorate the momentous event which paved the way for the expansion of the United States from sea to shining sea, a movement began in the 1930s to build a suitable memorial in St. Louis.  The plan called for a large public park along the St. Louis waterfront on the west bank of the Mississippi river, crowned with a massive monument, preferably an arch.  Although the land was cleared by 1942, and the Old Courthouse which had been the scene of the first phase of the infamous Dred Scott court case was incorporated into the plan, work on the memorial stalled twice due to World War Two and the Korean War.

               Finally, in 1961 work began on the grand memorial, the centerpiece of which would be a massive stainless-steel arch that would become the defining feature of the St. Louis skyline.  Originally titled Jefferson National Expansion Memorial, the Gateway Arch was opened to the public in 1968 under the jurisdiction of the National Park Service.

The Gateway Arch.

               In the 2010s, a massive renovation of the arch took place, including reshaping the grounds of the memorial.  To cap off the renovation, by an act of Congress, in 2018 the memorial was re-designated Gateway Arch National Park, becoming the first National Park in the state of Missouri, as well as the smallest National Park in the country.

THE PARK:

               Covering an area of barely 91 acres in downtown St. Louis on the west bank of the Mississippi river, Gateway Arch National Park is the smallest of the “Big 60” National Parks.  The park consists of three main features.  The foremost of these is the titular Gateway Arch, located at the center of the park space.  The arch itself is hollow, with a unique tram system that transports visitors to the pinnacle observation deck.  Underground below the arch is the visitor center and the Museum at the Gateway Arch, previously the Museum of Westward Expansion, which tells the story of the Louisiana Purchase, the evolution of St. Louis, and the westward expansion of the country.

The center hallway of the Museum at the Gateway Arch.

               The second feature of the park is its 90 acres of public park space surrounding the arch.  The rectangular plot holds two ponds on the north and south flanks of the arch, with a grand staircase leading to the Mississippi river, and sculpted park lands.  Located in the park’s southwest corner is the Old Cathedral, a Catholic Church dating from the early 1800s.  Along the waterfront is a dock for two replica 19^th Century paddleboat steamships that take visitors for short cruises along the river.

               The third feature of the park is the Old Courthouse, directly west of the Gateway Arch.  Originally constructed in stages from 1816-64, the courthouse is most famous as the scene of the initial trial of the Dred Scott case prior to the Civil War.  Scott, a slave whose master had died while the two were traveling in a northern free state sued for his freedom on the grounds that as the master had died while Scott was in a free state he was no longer the property of the man’s descendants still in the south.  Scott won the case when it was put to trial at the Old Courthouse in St. Louis, but the ruling was struck down in outrageous fashion by the Supreme Court, an event which enflamed the attitudes of abolitionists in the north and contributed to the outbreak of the Civil War.

A view of the Old Courthouse and downtown St. Louis taken from the observation deck of the Gateway Arch.  The Old Cathedral can be seen at lower left, while the circular structure at bottom center is the new main entrance to the arch and museum.

TRAVEL TIPS:

               Gateway Arch National Park has varying hours of operation.  The Old Courthouse is open from 8am to 4:30pm, and the Old Cathedral as a still active Catholic congregation holds regular masses as well as hosting tours of its own.  The Gateway Arch is open for tours from 8am to 10pm during the summer and 9am to 6pm in the winter.  Tours to the top using the tram system are specific to a time of your choosing when purchasing tickets.  Tickets can be bought at the Gateway Arch, but it is recommended to purchase them in advance online.  Also, due to security concerns, all visitors wishing to enter into the museum below ground and tour the arch must go through airport style security checkpoints.  Tours to the top of the arch are also not recommended for those suffering from claustrophobia, as the capsules that transport visitors on the tram are extremely cramped.  While the grounds, Old Courthouse, and museum are handicapped accessible, the arch tram is not.  Passport stamps can be found at the reception desk just inside the main entrance to the museum.  (As of this writing, passport stamp collectors are still allowed to use the obsolete Jefferson National Expansion Memorial stamp as well.)

A view of the interior of the capsules used by the arch tram.  Even from this photo, the capsule is far less spacious than it appears.

ADDITIONAL PHOTOS:

A plaque on the observation deck showing the height at the pinnacle of the arch.

Artifacts from exploring expeditions to west during the early 1800s on display in the museum.

A model in the museum showing the St. Louis riverfront during the mid 1800s.

The interior of the Old Cathedral taken shortly after the conclusion of Sunday Mass.

The exterior facade of the Old Cathedral.

A view of the riverfront dock with the two replica steam paddleboats moored alongside.

A statue commemorating the return of Captains Merriwether Lewis and William Clark to St. Louis upon the conclusion of their epic journey to the Pacific Coast.

A ground level view of the Old Courthouse.

A statue depicting Dred Scott and his wife in front of the Old Courthouse.

A view of the rotunda of the Old Courthouse.

A view taken from the base of the Gateway Arch.