The largest city in Missouri and one of the US’s largest inland ports, St Louis was once a booming center for fur traders and explorers opening up ‘The West’. It is now a modern communications, commercial, industrial and cultural center. It still retains its love affair with the Mississippi River, on whose banks can be heard ragtime, blues and Dixieland jazz. The influence of the many ethnic groups that created the city can still be seen in the German burgher houses, elegant French mansions (on its south side), and in the Italian ‘Hill’ neighborhood and other diverse enclaves.
At 192m (630ft), the Gateway Arch on the riverfront is the nation’s tallest memorial. It honors St Louis as the starting point for settlers who began their trek to the western frontier from the city and contains an observation deck and exhibits on the American West. Among the area’s 100-plus attractions are: the Six Flags St Louis theme park, the Missouri Botanical Garden, the Missouri History Museum, The Magic House Children’s Museum, the new Challenger Learning Center (with space simulators), sights along Old Route 66, St Louis Zoo and other cultural attractions in the Forest Park, currently undergoing renovation. St Louis celebrates the centennial of the 1904 World’s Fair.