Timeline of St. Louis

The following is a timeline of the history of the city of St. Louis, Missouri, United States.

Prior to 19th-century

• 1764 – St. Louis founded by Pierre Laclède in Louisiana, New Spain.^[1]
• 1780 – "Indian attack."^[2]
• 1799 – Population: 925.^[3]

19th century

1800s–1850s

• 1800 – St. Louis becomes part of French Louisiana.^[2]
• 1804
  • St. Louis becomes part of U.S. territory per Louisiana Purchase.^[2]
  • Post Office established.^[4]
• 1805 – St. Louis becomes capital of the U.S. Louisiana Territory.^[2][5]
• 1808 – Missouri Gazette newspaper begins publication.^[6]
• 1809
  • Town incorporated.^[1]
  • Missouri Fur Company established.^[5]
• 1811 – December 16: New Madrid earthquake.^[7]
• 1812 – St. Louis County established.^[4]
• 1815 – Theatre opens.^[4]
• 1816 – Bank of St. Louis incorporated.^[8]
• 1818
  • Saint Louis Academy founded.^[9]
  • Baptist Church built.^[1]
• 1819 – Erin Benevolent Society founded.^[1]
• 1820
  • June: Missouri constitutional convention held.^[3]
  • September: Missouri General Assembly convenes.^[5]
• 1821
  • St. Louis becomes part of the new U.S. state of Missouri.
  • City Directory begins publication.^[1][8]
• 1822
  • City of St. Louis incorporated.^[8]
  • Area of city: 385 acres.^[10]
• 1823 – William Carr Lane becomes mayor.
• 1825 – Lafayette visits town.^[11]
• 1826 – Catholic Diocese of St. Louis established.^[12]
• 1828 – County Courthouse built.
• 1830 – Population: 4,977.^[13]
• 1834
  • Daily Evening Herald newspaper begins publication.^[4][6]
  • Cathedral of St. Louis consecrated.^[12]
• 1835 – Anzeiger des Westens German-language newspaper begins publication.^[4][6]
• 1836 – Chamber of Commerce established.^[14]
• 1837 – Daniel Webster visits city.^[15]
• 1840
  • City boundaries expanded.^[16]
  • Population: 16,469.^[13]
• 1841
  • United Hebrew Congregation founded.
  • Area of city: 4.5 square miles.^[10]
• 1844 – Anti-immigration unrest.^[7]
• 1846
  • Dred Scott files lawsuit.^[7]
  • Mercantile Library Association established.^[8]
• 1847 – Boatmen's Savings Institution chartered.^[15]
• 1849
  • Concordia Seminary relocates to St. Louis.^[17]
  • Cholera epidemic.^[7]
  • Fire.^[3]
  • Bellefontaine Cemetery established.
• 1850
  • Third Baptist Church established.
  • Population: 77,860.^[10]
• 1851 – Bates' Theatre opens.^[18]
• 1852
  • Iron Mountain railroad built.^[14]
  • Bavarian Brewery in business.
• 1853 – Washington University founded.^[17]
• 1854 – Czech Slavonic Benevolent Society founded.^[19]
• 1856
  • Academy of Science founded.
  • St. Louis Agricultural and Mechanical Fair begins.^[14]
  • Grand Opera House opens.^[8]
• 1857
  • St. Louis Fire Department established.^[20]
  • Lindell Hotel in business.^[14]
• 1859
  • Streetcar begins operating.^[14]
  • Mary Institute founded.
  • Synagogue consecrated on Sixth Street.

1860s–1890s

• 1860 – Population: 160,773.^[13]
• 1861 – Western Sanitary Commission^[21] and Ladies Union Aid Society established.
• 1862 – Hoelke and Benecke photo studio in business.^[22]
• 1865
  • Public Library,^[14] Sokol sport club,^[23] and Germania Association^[18] established.
  • Southern Hotel^[24] and Meyer & Brother drug store^[25] in business.
• 1866
  • Cholera epidemic.^[7]
  • Missouri Historical Society headquartered in city.
  • Olympic Theatre opens.^[18]
• 1867 – City Board of Health and Compton Hill Reservoir Park^[26] established.
• 1869 – Congregation Shaare Emeth founded.
• 1870
  • Carondelet becomes part of St. Louis.^[7]
  • Area of city: 17.98 square miles.^[10]
  • Population: 310,864.^[13]
• 1871
  • 1871 St. Louis tornado.
  • Puck German-language magazine begins publication.^[27]
• 1872
  • Maryville College of the Sacred Heart and University Club^[18] founded.
  • Catholic Amerika begins publication.^[6][28]
• 1873 – Laclede Gas Light Company in business.^[29]
• 1874 – Eads Bridge built.^[14]
• 1875
  • Merchants Exchange opens.^[8]
  • Brownell and Wight Car Company in business.
• 1876
  • June: City hosts 1876 Democratic National Convention.
  • Forest Park opens.
  • Busch's Budweiser beer introduced.
  • Area of city: 61.37 square miles.^[10]
• 1877
  • City secedes from St. Louis County.
  • July: 1877 St. Louis general strike.^[30]
• 1878 – St. Louis Post-Dispatch newspaper begins publication.^[28]
• 1879
  • Anheuser-Busch Brewing Association and J.C. Strauss photo studio in business.
  • Pope's Theatre opens.^[18]
• 1880
  • St. Stanislaus Kostka Church built.
  • Population: 350,518.^[31]
• 1882 – Mallinckrodt Chemical Works incorporated.
• 1883 – St. Louis Exposition and Music Hall opens.^[8]
• 1884 – St. Louis Maroons baseball team active.
• 1886
  • May 1: Labour strike.^[32]
  • St. Louis Watchmaking School^[17] and Congregation Temple Israel founded.
• 1888 – City hosts 1888 Democratic National Convention.
• 1889 – Missouri Botanical Garden established.^[17]
• 1890 – Population: 451,770.^[31]
• 1891
  • Rubicam Business School established.^[17]
  • Wainwright Building constructed.
  • American Car Company in business.
  • Air conditioning installed in the Ice Palace beerhall.^[33]
• 1892
  • St. Louis Browns baseball team active.^[34]
  • St. Louis Country Club established.^[35]
  • Stix Baer & Fuller (shop) in business.
  • National People's Party founded in St. Louis.^[36]
• 1894 – Union Station opens.
• 1896
  • May: 1896 St. Louis–East St. Louis tornado.^[37]
  • June: Flood.^[37]
  • City hosts 1896 Republican National Convention.
  • Busch's Michelob beer introduced.
• 1898 – Compton Hill Water Tower erected.

20th-century

1900s–1970s

• 1900
  • St. Louis Streetcar Strike of 1900.
  • Monsanto Chemical Works in business.^[25]
  • Population: 575,238.^[38]
• 1902 – Sportsman's Park opens.
• 1903 – Missouri Athletic Club founded.
• 1904
  • Buckingham Hotel built.
  • April: St. Louis World's Fair opens;^[37] Palace of Fine Arts built.
  • City hosts 1904 Summer Olympics and 1904 Democratic National Convention.
• 1905 – May Department Store relocates to St. Louis.^[39]
• 1906
  • Racquet Club of St. Louis founded.
  • Statue of Louis IX of France unveiled in Forest Park.
• 1908
  • Aero Club of St. Louis incorporated.^[40]
  • Aeronautic Supply Company in business.^[40]
  • St. Louis Coliseum built.
  • Fairground Park established.^[26]
• 1909 – October: City centennial.
• 1910 – Population: 687,029.^[31]
• 1911
  • Urban League branch established.^[41]
  • Famous-Barr (shop) in business.^[39]
  • Benoist Flying School established.^[40]
• 1912
  • Ethical Society building constructed.
  • St. Louis Argus newspaper begins publication.^[42]
  • Missouri Peace Society founded.^[43][44]
• 1913 – Henry Kiel becomes mayor.
• 1914
  • Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis begins operating.^[45]
  • National Association for the Advancement of Colored People branch established.^[42]
  • Railway Exchange Building and Cathedral Basilica of Saint Louis constructed.
  • "Pageant and Masque of Saint Louis" held.^[4]
  • Saint Louis Zoo incorporated.
• 1915 – Junior League of St. Louis organized.^[46]
• 1917 – MacArthur Bridge opens.
• 1918
  • Poro beauty school opens.^[47]
• 1919
  • League of Women Voters of St. Louis organized.^[48]
  • City Hospital No. 2 begins operating.^[49]
  • Pine Street YMCA opens.^[50]
• 1920
  • Chase Hotel built.
  • Population: 772,897.^[38]
• 1921
  • WEW radio begins broadcasting.^[4]
  • American Association of University Women chapter active.^[46]
• 1925 – St. Louis Theater opens.
• 1926 – Southwestern Bell Building constructed.
• 1927
  • Racquet Club of St. Louis funds Lindbergh's Spirit of St. Louis airplane.
  • Tornado.^[4]
  • B.F. Mahoney Aircraft Corporation in business.^[40]
• 1928 – St. Louis American newspaper begins publication.^[28]
• 1929 – Fox Theatre opens.^[51]
• 1930 – Lambert-St. Louis Municipal Airport dedicated.^[40]
• 1931 – Rombauer's Joy of Cooking published.^[28]
• 1933
  • Firmin Desloge Hospital opens.^[49]
  • Anheuser-Busch's Budweiser Clydesdales established.
• 1935 – Neighborhood Gardens (housing) opens.^[52]
• 1937 – Floral Conservatory built in Forest Park.
• 1939
  • 1939 St. Louis smog.
  • Oldani's restaurant in business.
• 1940 – Population: 816,048.^[38]
• 1942 – George Hudson Orchestra debuts.^[53]
• 1943 – Campbell House Museum opens.
• 1947 – Congress of Racial Equality chapter organized.^[54]
• 1948 – U.S. Supreme Court decides Shelley v. Kraemer lawsuit.^[5]
• 1949 – The Fairgrounds Park Riot.
• 1950 – Population: 856,796.
• 1951 – Veterans' Memorial Bridge built.
• 1954
  • KETC television begins broadcasting.
  • Pruitt–Igoe housing built.^[55]
• 1955
  • Peabody Coal Company relocates to St. Louis.
  • Hellmuth, Obata and Kassabaum architects in business.
• 1958 – Landmarks Association of St. Louis established.
• 1959 – Civil rights sit-in.^[56]
• 1960
  • Population: 750,026.^[38]
  • Sister city relationship established with Stuttgart, Germany.^[57]
• 1962 – St. Louis Community College established.
• 1963
  • MetroBus begins operating.
  • Planetarium opens.
• 1964
  • LaClede Town (housing) opens.
  • Imo's Pizza in business in Shaw.
• 1965
  • Gateway Arch erected.^[5]
  • Regional East-West Gateway Council of Governments established.
• 1966 – Busch Stadium opens.
• 1967
  • Poplar Street Bridge built.
  • St. Louis Blues ice hockey team formed.
• 1969 – Laclede Gas Building constructed.
• 1970
  • Student antiwar demonstration.^[58]
  • Population: 622,236.^[13]
• 1974
  • St. Louis Port Authority created.^[7]
  • Sister city relationship established with Suwa, Japan.^[57]
• 1976 – Sister city relationship established with Lyon, France.^[57]
• 1977
  • St. Louis Convention Center opens.
  • James F. Conway becomes mayor.
  • Sister city relationship established with Galway, Ireland.^[57]
• 1979 – Sister city relationship established with Nanjing, China.^[57]

1980s–1990s

• 1981 – Gwen B. Giles is the first woman and first African-American appointed to lead the St. Louis City Assessor’s Office.^[59]

• 1986
  • Express Scripts and Galleria Cinema^[51] in business.
  • Southwestern Bell Telephone Building constructed.
• 1987
  • Sister city relationship established with Bologna, Italy.^[57]
  • Lindbergh Plaza cinema in business.^[51]
• 1989 – One Metropolitan Square (hi-rise) built.
• 1990
  • Population: 396,685.^[13]
  • Sister city relationship established with Georgetown, Guyana.^[57]
• 1992 – Sister city relationships established with Szczecin, Poland and Samara, Russia.^[57]
• 1993 – MetroLink begins operating.
• 1994
  • Kiel Center arena opens.
  • Sister city relationship established with Saint-Louis, Senegal.^[57]
• 1995
  • St. Louis Rams football team active.
  • Trans World Dome (stadium) opens.
• 1997
  • City website online (approximate date).^[60]
  • Ameren Corporation in business.
  • Clarence Harmon becomes mayor.

21st-century

• 2000 – Population: 348,189.^[38]
• 2001
  • Pulitzer Arts Foundation museum opens.
  • Francis G. Slay becomes mayor.
  • William Lacy Clay, Jr. becomes U.S. representative for Missouri's 1st congressional district.^[61]
  • Veterans for Peace headquartered in St. Louis.^[62]
• 2002 – St. Louis Building Arts Foundation active (approximate date).^[63]
• 2003 – St. Louis Area Regional Response System headquartered in city.^[64]
• 2004 – Sister city relationship established with Bogor, Indonesia.^[57]
• 2006 – Busch Stadium rebuilt.
• 2007 – Center for Citizen Leadership headquartered in St. Louis.
• 2008 – Sister city relationship established with Brčko, Bosnia and Herzegovina.^[57]
• 2009 – Citygarden opens.
• 2010 – Population: 319,294; metro 2,812,896.^[65]
• 2011 – October: Occupy St. Louis begins.
• 2014
  • August 9: Shooting in nearby Ferguson, unrest ensues.^[66]
  • Musial Bridge and Center for Jazz^[67] open.
• 2016
  • Rams leave St. Louis and become the L.A. Rams.^[68]

See also

• History of St. Louis
• List of mayors of St. Louis
• National Register of Historic Places listings in St. Louis (city, A–L), Missouri
• National Register of Historic Places listings in St. Louis (city, M–Z), Missouri
• Timeline of Kansas City, Missouri

References

1. Paxton 1821.
2. McDermott 1952.
3. Federal Writers' Project 1941, p. 293.
4. Federal Writers' Project (1941), "Missouri Chronology", Missouri: A Guide to the 'Show Me' State, American Guide Series, New York: Duell, Sloan and Pearce
5. "Timeline of Missouri History". Missouri Office of the Secretary of State. Retrieved August 30, 2014.
6. "US Newspaper Directory". Chronicling America. Washington, D.C.: Library of Congress. Retrieved August 30, 2014.
7. "Chronological History of St. Louis". Mound City on the Mississippi. City of St. Louis. Retrieved August 30, 2014.
8. Shewey 1892.
9. "History of Saint Louis University (timeline)". Saint Louis University. Retrieved August 30, 2014.
10. Bartolomew 1917.
11. Thomas Edwin Spencer (1914), Story of Old St. Louis, St. Louis, Mo.
12. Catholic Encyclopedia 1913.
13. Population of the 100 Largest Cities and Other Urban Places in the United States: 1790 to 1990, US Census Bureau, 1998
14. Tutt 1898.
15. Stevens 1911.
16. Missouri Republication (1854). Annual Review: History of St. Louis, Commercial Statistics, Improvements of the Year ...
17. "Missouri: St. Louis". Patterson's American Educational Directory. 29. Chicago. 1932.
18. Scharf 1883.
19. Emily Greene Balch (1910). Our Slavic Fellow Citizens. New York: Charities Publication Committee.
20. "St. Louis Fire Department History: Brief History Timeline". City of St. Louis. Retrieved August 30, 2014.
21. "Timeline". Civil War in Missouri. Missouri History Museum. Retrieved August 30, 2014.
22. Peter E. Palmquist; Thomas R. Kailbourn (2005). Pioneer Photographers from the Mississippi to the Continental Divide: A Biographical Dictionary, 1839-1865. Stanford University Press. ISBN 978-0-8047-4057-9.
23. George B. Kirsch; et al., eds. (2000). Encyclopedia of Ethnicity and Sports in the United States. Greenwood Publishing Group. ISBN 978-0-313-29911-7.
24. Van Ravenswaay 1991.
25. "St. Louis the Leading Drug and Chemical Market". Meyer Brothers Druggist. St. Louis: C.F.G. Meyer. 39. January 1918.
26. "St. Louis City Parks". City of St. Louis. Retrieved August 30, 2014.
27. Albert Bernhardt Faust (1909). The German Element in the United States. Houghton Mifflin Co.
28. Cuoco 2000.
29. Jones 1891.
30. Aaron Brenner; Benjamin Day; Immanuel Ness, eds. (2015) [2009]. "Timeline". Encyclopedia of Strikes in American History. Routledge. ISBN 978-1-317-45707-7.
31. Britannica 1910.
32. John Cameron Simonds; John T. McEnnis (1887). The Story of Manual Labor in All Lands and Ages. R. S. Peale & Company.
33. Patrick Robertson (2011). Robertson's Book of Firsts. Bloomsbury. ISBN 978-1-60819-738-5.
34. "Cardinals Timeline". MLB Advanced Media. Retrieved August 30, 2014.
35. James F. Healey. "St. Louis Golf Chronology". Retrieved August 30, 2014.
36. Catherine Cocks; et al. (2009). "Chronology". Historical Dictionary of the Progressive Era. Scarecrow Press. ISBN 978-0-8108-6293-7.
37. Haydn 1910.
38. U.S. Census Bureau, "Mini-Historical Statistics: Population of the Largest 75 Cities: 1900 to 2000" (PDF), Statistical Abstract of the United States: 2003
39. "Macy's, Inc. History (timeline)". Macy's. Retrieved August 30, 2014.
40. "Timeline". Flight City: St. Louis Takes to the Air. Missouri Historical Society. Archived from the original on November 29, 2011.
41. National League on Urban Conditions Among Negroes (1912), "Establishment of Branch Organizations in the Several Cities", Bulletin, 2
42. John Aaron Wright (2002). Discovering African American St. Louis: A Guide to Historic Sites. Missouri History Museum. ISBN 978-1-883982-45-4.
43. Advocate of Peace, 1912, JSTOR 20666584
44. "New Peace Society" (PDF), University Missourian, Columbia, Missouri, October 22, 1912 – via U.S. Library of Congress, Chronicling America
45. "Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis Centennial: Timeline". Federal Reserve Archival System for Economic Research. St. Louis Fed. Retrieved August 10, 2016.
46. Katharine T. Corbett (1999). In Her Place: A Guide to St. Louis Women's History. Missouri History Museum. ISBN 978-1-883982-30-0.
47. Cheryl Krasnick Warsh and Dan Malleck, ed. (2013). Consuming Modernity: Gendered Behaviour and Consumerism before the Baby Boom. University of British Columbia Press. ISBN 978-0-7748-2470-5.
48. "St. Louis Manuscript Collections". State Historical Society of Missouri, Research Center-St. Louis. Retrieved August 30, 2014.
49. "St. Louis and Washington University Chronology". Washington University School of Medicine. Retrieved August 30, 2014.
50. Nina Mjagkij (1994). Light in the Darkness: African Americans and the YMCA, 1852-1946. University Press of Kentucky. ISBN 0-8131-2801-3.
51. "Movie Theaters in St. Louis, MO". CinemaTreasures.org. Los Angeles: Cinema Treasures LLC. Retrieved August 30, 2014.
52. Daily "Neighborhood Gardens" Check |url= value (help). October 15, 2014.
53. Dennis Owsley (2006). City of Gabriels: The History of Jazz in St. Louis, 1895-1973. Reedy Press. ISBN 978-1-933370-04-0.
54. "Survey of Collections and Repositories". Civil Rights History Project. U.S. Library of Congress, American Folklife Center. Retrieved August 30, 2014.
55. "A history of cities in 50 buildings", The Guardian, UK, 2015
56. Kwame Anthony Appiah; Henry Louis Gates, Jr. (2005). "Selected Chronology". Africana: The Encyclopedia of the African and African American Experience. Oxford University Press. p. xix+. ISBN 978-0-19-517055-9.
57. "St. Louis Sister Cities". St. Louis Center for International Relations. Retrieved December 30, 2014.
58. John Bassett McCleary (2004). "Anti-War Events". The Hippie Dictionary: A Cultural Encyclopedia of the 1960s and 1970s. Ten Speed Press. pp. 602+. ISBN 978-1-58008-547-2.
59. Christensen, Lawrence O., William E. Foley, Gary R. Kremer, and Kenneth H. Winn, eds. (1999). Dictionary of Missouri Biography. Columbia: University of Missouri Press. pp. 337–338. ISBN 978-0-8262-1222-1.
60. "St. Louis Community Information Network". Archived from the original on April 1997 – via Internet Archive, Wayback Machine.
61. "Congressional Biographies: Missouri". Official Congressional Directory. Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office. 2001.
62. "Brief History of VFP (timeline)". Veterans for Peace. Retrieved February 28, 2015.
63. Mike Tigas and Sisi Wei (ed.). "Saint Louis, Missouri". Nonprofit Explorer. New York: ProPublica. Retrieved August 30, 2014.
64. "History". St. Louis Area Regional Response System. Retrieved August 30, 2014. STARRS was formed as a result of the Urban Area Security Initiative (UASI) Grant Program for Homeland Security
65. "Largest Urbanized Areas With Selected Cities and Metro Areas (2010)". US Census Bureau. 2012.
66. "Police Shooting Protests Continue in St. Louis", New York Times, October 12, 2014
67. "Wynton Marsalis to Open St. Louis Jazz Center", New York Times, September 28, 2014
68. http://espn.go.com/nfl/story/_/id/14558668/st-louis-rams-relocate-los-angeles

Bibliography

• John A. Paxton (1821), St. Louis Directory and Register, St. Louis, OCLC 14912466
• J. Thomas Scharf (1883), History of Saint Louis City and County, Philadelphia: Louis H. Everts, OCLC 2991276
• Commercial and Architectural St. Louis. Dumont Jones. 1891.
• "Chronological and Historical Events". Shewey's Guide and Directory to Saint Louis. St. Louis: Arista C. Shewey. 1892.
• "Reading List: City of St. Louis", Public Library Magazine, St. Louis, 5, January 1898
• Helen Tutt (January 1898), "Development of St. Louis", Public Library Magazine, St. Louis, 5
• "St Louis", Encyclopædia Britannica, 24 (11th ed.), New York, 1910, OCLC 14782424 – via Internet Archive
• Benjamin Vincent (1910), "St. Louis", Haydn's Dictionary of Dates (25th ed.), London: Ward, Lock & Co.
• Walter Barlow Stevens (1911). St. Louis, the Fourth City, 1764-1909. S.J. Clarke.
• John J. Tannrath (1913). "Saint Louis". Catholic Encyclopedia. 13. New York.
• Andrew Cunningham McLaughlin and Albert Bushnell Hart, ed. (1914). "St. Louis". Cyclopedia of American Government. 3. D. Appleton and Company.
• St. Louis City Plan Commission; Harland Bartolomew (1917). Problems of St. Louis. Nixon-Jones.
• Federal Writers' Project (1941), "St. Louis", Missouri: A Guide to the 'Show Me' State, American Guide Series, New York: Duell, Sloan and Pearce
• John Francis McDermott, ed. (1952). "Chronology". Early Histories of St. Louis. St. Louis Historical Documents Foundation – via Hathi Trust.
• Saint Louis: a Chronological and Documentary History, 1762–1970, by Robert Vexler. Dobbs Ferry: Oceana Publications, 1974.
• Charles Van Ravenswaay (1991). St. Louis: An Informal History of the City and Its People, 1764-1865. Missouri History Museum. ISBN 978-0-252-01915-9.
• Lorin Cuoco and William H. Gass, ed. (2000). "St. Louis Literary Chronology". Literary St. Louis: A Guide. Missouri History Museum. p. 4+. ISBN 978-1-883982-35-5.
• "Recommended Reading on St. Louis History". stl250. 2013.

External links

• "Maps and atlases relating to St. Louis City and County: Chronological list". St. Louis County Library.
• St. Louis Mercantile Library. "Guide to Researching St. Louis History". Research Guides. University of Missouri–St. Louis.
• "250 Years in 20 Minutes: a Crash Course in the Large Events that Shaped St. Louis". stl250. 2013.
• Digital Public Library of America. Items related to St. Louis, various dates