St. Louis is the second-largest city in Missouri, United States. It sits near the confluence of the Mississippi and the Missouri Rivers, on the western bank of the latter. As of 2020, the city proper had a population of around 301,500, while the bi-state metropolitan area, which extends into Illinois, had an estimated population of over 2.8 million, making it the largest metropolitan area in Missouri, the second-largest in Illinois, the seventh-largest in the Great Lakes Megalopolis, and the 20th-largest in the United States.
Before European settlement, the area was a regional center of Native American Mississippian culture. St. Louis was founded on February 14, 1764, by French fur traders Gilbert Antoine de St. Maxent, Pierre Laclède and Auguste Chouteau, who named it for Louis IX of France. In 1764, following France’s defeat in the Seven Years’ War, the area was ceded to Spain. In 1800, it was retroceded to France, which sold it three years later to the United States as part of the Louisiana Purchase; the city was then the point of embarkation for the Corps of Discovery on the Lewis and Clark Expedition. In the 19th century, St. Louis became a major port on the Mississippi River; from 1870 until the 1920 census, it was the fourth-largest city in the country. It separated from St. Louis County in 1877, becoming an independent city and limiting its own political boundaries. St. Louis had a brief run as a world-class city in the early 20th century. In 1904, it hosted the Louisiana Purchase Exposition and the Summer Olympics.
A boy on stilts stands in front of the produce stands in front of the F.J. Voepel Market, 1906A man peers out of the window at Cole Brothers Lightning Rod Company at 316 S. Seventh Street, ca. 1900sAn empty cart for distributing beer in front of a bar on a street, ca. 1900sBroadway and Locust, southwest corner, 1909Broadway looking north from Keokuk Street, ca. 1900sC.J. Reilly Horse Shoer shop at 308 North Leonard Avenue, 1906Carr Street north of Eleventh Street, ca. 1900sCharles Meder Grocery store at the corner of Ninteenth and Dodier Streets, ca. 1900sColonel Frederick Dent Residence at the southwest corner of Fourth and Cerre Streets, 1915Construction of North Taylor Avenue at the intersection of Florissant Avenue, 1906Delmar Boulevard from Kingshighway, 1914Grand Avenue and Olive Boulevard, south side, street under construction, 1907Grand Avenue Water Tower, 1915Gravois Road looking east at River des Peres, 1914Group of men standing in front of the Globe Shaving Parlor at 1015 Carr Street, 1910Horse-drawn cart stopped at the curb of a street in St.Louis, ca. 1900sIntersection of Fifteenth Street and Franklin, looking northwest, ca. 1900sIntersection of Sixth and Walnut Streets, 1907Lawton Street looking west to Beaumont, 1910Market Street Grocery Company building, ca 1900sMissouri Athletic Club fire wreckage at the northwest corner of Fourth Street and Washington Avenue, 1914Mound City Buggy Company on east side of Broadway between Papin and Chouteau, ca. 1900sMutoscope Parlor and Theatre on the northwest corner of Olive Street and Leonard Avenue, 1912Nineteenth Street looking north from Dodier Street, 1900Nineteenth Street looking south across Morgan and Lucas Streets, ca. 1900sNortheast corner of Third Street and Lucas Avenue, ca. 1900sNorthwest corner of Eighth and Pine Streets, 1910Olive Street looking toward Sarah Street. 1910Pedestrians on the sidewalk near the intersection of Sixth and Locust Streets, ca. 1900sPedestrians passing the F.W. Woolworth Company store at 413 N. Sixth Street and the Strand Theater box office, 1914Seventh Street looking north towards Locust Street, ca. 1910sSidewalk in front of 1006 Olive Street, ca. 1900sSidewalk on Olive Street looking west from Seventh Street, ca. 1900sSidewalk on the 3500 block of Olive Street, 1907Sidewalk scene on a street in St. Louis, ca. 1900sSixth Street looking south from Lucas Avenue, 1906Snow Truck and Cleaning crew on the 2800 block of Chouteau Avenue, 1909Southwest corner of Leonard Avenue and Locust Street, ca. 1900sSpruce Street looking toward Second Street, ca. 1900sSt. Louis City Hall, ca. 1900sSt. Louis Public Library at 1301 Olive Street, 1910St. Nicholas Hotel, 407 North Eighth Street (northwest corner of Eighth and Locust Streets, also known as the Victoria Building), 1905Store front window of a liquor store on Chouteau Avenue, ca. 1900sStore front window of M.E. Croak and Company Clothier on the southeast corner of Olive and Tenth Streets, 1904Store front windows for Fellhauer Brothers (August and Martin) Saloon at 3315 Olive Street, 1907Street cleaner at work on Twelfth Street between Olive and Locust Streets, 1909Street pavers at work on Compton Avenue north of Meramec, 1906Street workers and carriages on a street in St. Louis, ca. 1900sStreet workers using a steam roller to repair Twelfth Street between Chestnut and Pine Streets. 1910. Talbot’s Hippodrome posters posted on buildings at 1123 – 1131 Market Street, ca. 1900sThird Street, looking north to Chestnut Street, ca. 1900sTrorlicht, Duncker and Renard Carpet Company on Washington Avenue east of Third Street, 1904Twelfth Street north of Market Street, 1909Two girls standing in front of Henry Heier Undertaker and Embalmer shop at 3432 Shenandoah Street, 1906U.S. Mail Carriage parked on Olive Street near Grand Avenue, 1906Union Station from Eighteenth and Market Streets, 1904Wash Street, between Eighteenth and Nineteenth Streets, ca. 1900sWashington Avenue looking east from Seventh Street. Photograph, ca. 1912. Washington Avenue looking east from Seventh Street, ca. 1910Washington Avenue west from Eighth Street, 1903Washington Avenue west from Ninth Street, 1903Washington Avenue west from Seventh Street, 1900Washington Avenue west from Sixth Street, 1906Washington Street east from Tenth Street, 1905Workers using a crane to tear up the road on Chestnut Street west of Ninth Street. Photograph, 1914. Wrecked car parked outside of Neal O’Donnell’s Practical Horse Shoeing shop at 3148 Chouteau Avenue, 1906
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