Gateway Arch: The Gateway To The Midwest

Gateway to the Midwest

The most iconic monument in the Midwest is the Gateway Arch. Located in Downtown St. Louis, it is a source of pride for many local residents and something that makes our city well known. Built in 1963 the Arch’s unique design has always stood out in the minds of many people. The Arch was built during a time of changes and unrest in the country and in the summer of 1964 civil rights activist Percy Green led a protest, climbing the partially completed Arch to call attention to unfair hiring practices. The monument wasn’t always the Arch us St. Lousians’s know and love today, originally people weren’t able to go to the top of the Arch. It wasn’t until 1962 that the tram system was constructed to take visitors to the top,

Louis do not realize the Gateway Arch national park is actually named “The Jefferson National Expansion Memorial”. For many St. Louisan’s the Gateway Arch has become a symbol of home, our claim to fame per say, and represents much more than Thomas Jefferson's vision. The Arch has served as a historical site of many upgrades as renovations still take place today. I wanted to visit the Arch to see some of the things they have changed since the last time I had visited probably eight or nine years prior. The grounds of the Arch look a lot different in my opinion as well as new biking trails I do not recall being there before. On my trip to the Arch I learned many interesting facts I didn't know before and with its current renovations still taking place I got to see first-hand the new look for the

The Arch is the tallest man made monument in the United States, the only monument taller than the Arch is the Eiffel Tower. The Arch was built out of stainless steel and concrete, there are 142 sections or what looks like panels from the ground of the stainless steel pieces. One could not pick up the Gateway Arch if they tried as it weighs 43,000 tons! The Jefferson National Expansion Memorial is actually 91 acres which includes roughly 60 acres of Arch grounds and the remaining acres include the Old Courthouse and some of the surrounding streets. This area corresponds with the original site of the French colonial town of St. Louis which is considered the oldest European city in the Midwest. It was decided to create the park here due to St. Louis’s major role in Westward Expansion, as I have mentioned before. Some of the key events that involved St. Louis in what would eventually become the expansion of the United States to what we all know it as today are as follows. St. Louis is the place where the Santa Fe and the Organ Trails originated, and the place were Lewis and Clark started their exploration, and where formal possession of the Louisiana Purchase was taken. These are just some of the fun facts I learned about the Arch on my