Visitors Guide to Historical Attractions
Metropolitan Saint Louis
Saint Louis has its origins when in 1764 French fur traders established a small village named after Louis IX, the Crusader King of France. There are a number of museums and historical sites that tell the Saint Louis' story. The Museum of Westward Expansion documents the history of European expansion from the days of Lewis and Clark. The area has a number of historical houses and societies that offer tours. In Saint Louis County the Museum of Transportation has over 300 locomotives, rail cars, and other forms of transportation.
Jefferson Barracks National Cemetery
LeMay, MO
Jefferson Barracks, one of the National Cemetery Administrations oldest interment sites, has served as a burial place soldiers from all wars. Although Jefferson Barracks was formally established as a national cemetery in 1866 the first burial to have occurred in 1827. The old cemetery contains approximately 20,000 gravesites including more than 11,000 from the Civil War. As space became limited, the cemetery was expanded to more than double its size in the 1890s. Jefferson Barracks National Cemetery was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1998.
Jefferson Barracks Telephone Museum
Saint Louis, MO
Housed in a beautifully restored 1896 building, the museum features an extensive collection of telephones, telephone-related equipment and memorabilia. It is located in the Jefferson Barracks Historic Park, just south of downtown Saint Louis. This self-guided, accessible museum has many hands-on, how-things-work displays.
Scott Joplin House
Saint Louis, MO
Of all the houses and clubs in which ragtime composer Scott Joplin lived and worked in Saint Louis, only the second floor flat, which he and his wife Belle Hayden Joplin moved in 1900, survives. The apartment has been restored and furnished with period pieces so visitors can experience Joplin's modest lifestyle. The building also has museum exhibits interpreting Joplin's life and work, and Saint Louis during the ragtime era.
Missouri Civil War Museum
Saint Louis, MO
The Missouri Civil War Museum is located in the Jefferson Barracks Historic Site in just south of Saint Louis. The facility is the largest educational complex dedicated exclusively to Missouri’s role in the Civil War. The museum is housed in the Jefferson Barracks Post Exchange and Gymnasium Building that was built in 1905. Visitors will see an original Stidebaker hose wagon, A Civil War cannon, a “war horse,” and many other area memorabilia. The museum contains a movie room and several other multimedia presentations.
Missouri Historical Museum
Saint Louis, MO
The Missouri History Museum is dedicated to documenting and interpreting the history of the Saint Louis area. The museum is housed in a building formerly called the Jefferson Memorial in honor of President Thomas Jefferson. In 2000 the addition of the Emerson Electric Center to the building gave the Missouri History Museum more exhibit space and additional facilities.
Mudd's Grove
Kirkwood, MO
Mudd's Grove is an antebellum, brick Greek revival house built in 1859 and named for Henry T. Mudd who bought the house and 100 adjoining acres in 1866. Through the years, Mudd's Grove was home to many local families before it was bought by the Kirkwood Historical Society in 1992 and opened for public tours.
The Museum of Transportation
Kirkwood, MO
The Museum of Transportation has one of the largest collections of transportation vehicles in the world, including more than 70 real locomotives - some of which were used in the earliest days of railroading in the U.S. The wide variety of displays featured at the Museum also includes passenger cars, freight cars, streetcars, automobiles, buses, trucks, horse-drawn carriages, aircraft, and many other pieces.
Museum at the Gateway Arch
Saint Louis, MO
Located underneath the Gateway Arch, the Museum at the Gateway Arch preserves some rare artifacts from the days of Lewis and Clark and the 19th century pioneers who helped shape the history of the American West. The museum contains an extensive collection of artifacts related to the westward expansion of the United States including an authentic American Indian tipi, an overview of the Lewis & Clark expedition, and Indian Peace Medals. Nearby is the Odyssey Theatre whose enormous screen and sound system offers the National Geographic film "Lewis and Clark: Great Journey West."
The Old Courthouse
Saint Louis, MO
The National Park Service began preservation of the Old Courthouse following its incorporation into Jefferson National Expansion Memorial. The Old Courthouse is best known as the place where the Dred Scott slavery trials and where Virginia Minor's case for a woman's right to vote came to trial in the 1870s. Today the Old Courthouse is a museum documenting the history of the Saint Louis area and the judiciary system of the 19th century. Recently the Old Courthouse was added to the National Park Service's National Underground Railroad Network To Freedom.
St. Louis Union Station
Saint Louis, MO
Once the largest and most beautiful railroad station in the country, Saint Louis Union Station is a National Historic Landmark with more than 85 unique specialty shops, restaurants and entertainment venues. Union Station also includes the Memories Museum, self-guided walking tours and free-guided tours.
Sappington House Museum
Crestwood, MO
The Thomas Sappington house was built in 1808 by slave labor and has been placed on the National Register of Historic Places. The Sappington House Museum is a rare example of federal architecture in the Midwest. The house is furnished with items made before 1835 and decorated as if the Sappingtons were still living in the house. In addition to the museum, the Sappington Complex includes the Sappington Barn restaurant, gift shop and the Library of Americana, which includes resources on American History and Decorative Arts.
Soldiers Memorial Military Museum
Saint Louis, MO
The Soldier's Memorial Military Museum is dedicated as a memorial for veterans and as a museum for preserving a historic collection of military artifacts. The building's entrance is flanked by four Bedford stone sculptures by Walker Hancock. Two exhibit rooms hold collections of military items--uniforms, photographs, weaponry, war souvenirs and regalia, posters and medals as well as mannequins wearing uniforms.
Taille de Noyer
Florissant, MO
Taille de Noyer is one of the oldest houses in Saint Louis County. Originally a two-room cabin built in 1790 on a site that was part of a Spanish land grant, the house was enlarged in stages. The Florissant Valley Historical Society is housed in the elegant Taille de Noyer House. Taille de Noyer is an historic antebellum home with stately pillars across the front veranda. The house has been restored and furnished and a museum and a country store were established in the basement.
Thornhill
Chesterfield, MO
Thornhill was the home of Frederick Bates, Missouri’s second governor. The 1820s federal-style home is the oldest standing governor’s residence in Missouri and the site includes several out buildings, an orchard, and the family cemetery. The home has been restored so visitors can see how a typical farm family lived during the early 1800s. Thornhill is in Faust County Park which also is home to the Butterfly House, the Saint Louis Carousel, and Faust Historical Village.
Frank Lloyd Wright House
Kirkwood, MO
The Frank Lloyd Wright House in Ebsworth Park was originally built as a private residence for a Saint Louis artist and his wife. It is one of only five Wright-designed structures in Missouri and the only one open to the public. The home is notable not only for its architectural integrity, but for retaining all of its original Wright-designed furnishings and fabrics. The home is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and is open for tours on a limited basis.
EXPLORE PAGE 1 OF HISTORICAL ATTRACTIONS IN SAINT LOUIS
For Travelers Heading Up River
Meeting the Missouri River
The two longest rivers of the United States, the Missouri and the Mississippi, meet at Saint Charles County, Missouri. The Historic Saint Charles downtown area offers visitors a variety of attractions including the Lewis and Clark Boat House and Nature Center, The Foundry Art Centre, and Missouri’s First State Capitol. Nearby is Confluence State Park and the Daniel Boone Home.
For Travelers Heading Across the River
Meeting of the Great Rivers Scenic Byway
The Meeting of the Great Rivers Scenic Byway area is one of America’s newer scenic byways. With over 20,000 acres of forest and wetlands at the heart of the Mississippi Flyway, it is a nature lovers paradise. Visitors will find spectacular colors in the fall and bald eagles in the winter. History abounds in the region ranging from the prehistoric Cahokia Mounds to sites on the National Register of Historic Places.
For Travelers Heading Down River
French Colonial Country
Down river of Saint Louis and the Meeting of the Great Rivers Scenic Byway area is Ste. Genevieve, Missouri and Randolph County, Illinois. This area was heavily influenced by the French fur traders who inhabited the region from 1700 to 1840.
