St. Louis Then and Now(r), Hardcover

Established by French fur-trader Pierre Laclede in 1764 and named in honor of the patron saint of France, St. Louis was in its earliest days a trading outpost near the confluence of the Missouri and Mississippi rivers. After Jefferson purchased the western territories from the French in 1804, the town became the ``Gateway to the West,`` chief provisioner and jumping-off point for westward-bound explorers, adventurers, and gold prospectors. Its location on the Mississippi, once jammed with the fabulous steamboats that brought Mark Twain to the city, and its heritage as a heartland of ragtime, jazz, and blues music have given St. Louis a distinctive flavor that today blends the quaint and historic with the modern. Sites include: SS Admiral, the Gateway Arch, Old Courthouse, Union Station, City Hall, Soulard Market, Anheuser-Busch Brewery, Missouri Botanical Gardens, St. Louis University, Sportsman's Park, the 1904 World's Fair, St. Louis Art Museum, and Cathedral of St. Louis.