120 Fun Facts About St. Louis

The city was founded in 1764 by French fur traders and named after which French monarch?

Louis IX was the crusader-king canonised as Saint Louis in 1297, which is why the city gets a saint's name rather than a plain royal one.

Which two French fur traders are usually credited with founding the city, along with Gilbert de St. Maxent?

Chouteau was only about 14 when he led the work party that started clearing the site; Laclède was his stepfather in all but name.

How tall is the Gateway Arch?

It is exactly as wide at the base as it is tall, and it was designed to sway up to 18 inches in high wind.

Which Finnish-American architect designed the Gateway Arch?

The competition jury picked his entry unanimously in February 1948; his father Eliel, also an entrant, was reportedly congratulated by mistake at first.

In what year was construction of the Gateway Arch completed?

Building started in February 1963 and the last piece went in on October 28, 1965; the public did not ride to the top until June 1967.

The Gateway Arch is clad in which material?

The skin is quarter-inch grade 304 stainless steel, which is why the monument shifts colour with the sky and never needed painting.

What geometric shape does the Gateway Arch take?

A catenary is the curve a hanging chain makes; flip it and it stands entirely in compression, which is why the arch needs no internal frame.

Roughly how much did the Gateway Arch cost to build?

That is close to $100 million in today's money, still a bargain for the tallest arch on Earth.

Which world's fair did St. Louis host in 1904?

It marked 100 years since the purchase (a year late), sprawled over 1,270 acres and drew nearly 19.7 million people.

Which food is most famously said to have been popularised at the 1904 St. Louis fair?

Historians stress popularised, not invented: the waffle-style cone existed already, but the fair is where America met it.

Which soft drink was introduced to a national audience at the 1904 fair?

Puffed Wheat cereal made its national debut at the same fair, shot from cannons as a crowd-pulling stunt.

The 1904 fair's Palace of Fine Arts, designed by Cass Gilbert, survives today as what?

Almost everything else at the fair was temporary plaster; the art palace was built in stone precisely so it could outlast the party.

The giant organ built for the 1904 fair's Festival Hall ended up in which city's department store?

John Wanamaker bought it, tripled its size, and it is still played daily as the Wanamaker Organ in what is now a Macy's.

The 1904 Olympics in St. Louis were the first Games held where?

Chicago had originally won the Games, but they were moved to coincide with the fair, and most competitors turned out to be American.

Which medal format debuted at the 1904 St. Louis Olympics?

Earlier Games had handed out silver to winners and bronze to runners-up; St. Louis set the podium everyone knows.

American gymnast George Eyser won six medals at the 1904 Games despite what?

He lost the leg after being run over by a train, and still took gold on the parallel bars, vault and rope climb.

The 1904 Olympic marathon winner Thomas Hicks was helped along by his handlers with what?

The first man across the line, Fred Lorz, was disqualified for riding part of the course in a car, and only 14 of 32 starters finished.

Cuban runner Andarín Carvajal finished fourth in the 1904 marathon despite doing what mid-race?

Another runner, Len Taunyane, was chased about a mile off course by a dog and still finished ninth.

How many World Series titles have the St. Louis Cardinals won?

That is the most in the National League and second overall only to the Yankees.

Which Cardinals pitcher posted a modern-record 1.12 ERA in 1968?

His season was so dominant that baseball lowered the pitcher's mound the following year.

The Cardinals' famous 'birds on the bat' logo first appeared in what year?

The club had only adopted the name Cardinals in 1900, having played its first years as the Brown Stockings and then the Browns.

Which nickname was given to the rowdy Cardinals team that won the 1934 World Series?

Ozzie Smith, decades later, would give the club its next signature image with backflips and a record 13 Gold Gloves at shortstop.

What is the seating capacity of the current Busch Stadium, opened in 2006?

It is the third ballpark to carry the Busch name and hosted the 2009 All-Star Game.

The St. Louis Blues hockey team is named after a song by which composer?

The Blues joined the NHL in the 1967 expansion and lost their first three Stanley Cup Finals in a row.

In what year did the Blues finally win their first Stanley Cup?

They beat Boston in Game 7 after sitting dead last in the league on January 3 that season.

Which 1980s pop song became the Blues' unofficial victory anthem during their 2019 Cup run?

Players heard it in a Philadelphia bar after a road win and adopted it for every home victory that followed.

Which NFL team won Super Bowl XXXIV while based in St. Louis?

Linebacker Mike Jones stopped Tennessee's Kevin Dyson just short of the goal line on the final play, a moment known simply as 'The Tackle'.

The Rams left St. Louis to return to Los Angeles after which season?

In 2021 the NFL and owner Stan Kroenke paid the city $790 million to settle the lawsuit over the move.

The Hill's signature appetizer, 'toasted' in name only, is actually prepared how?

Legend says a chef on The Hill dropped a ravioli into the fryer by accident in the 1940s, and 'toasted' just sounded nicer than 'fried'; it comes with marinara for dipping.

A famous sticky St. Louis cake is said to have been born in the 1930s when a baker made what mistake?

He reversed the proportions of butter and flour, producing the dense, sweet slab now called gooey butter cake, which the city has refused to give up ever since.

St. Louis-style pizza is topped with which processed cheese?

It is a blend of cheddar, Swiss and provolone, and the thin yeastless crust is cut into squares rather than wedges.

How is a St. Louis-style pizza traditionally cut?

The 'party cut' is often traced to Imo's founder Ed Imo, a former tile-layer, and helps the cracker-thin crust carry its toppings.

Ted Drewes, the famous frozen-custard stand on old Route 66, calls its signature dessert what?

It is served upside down to prove nothing falls out, and the shop sells Christmas trees when custard season winds down.

Which brewing giant has its headquarters in St. Louis?

It began as the Bavarian Brewery in 1852; Adolphus Busch was the first American brewer to pasteurise beer and ship it in refrigerated railcars.

In what year did Adolphus Busch first use the name Budweiser for a new beer?

The name was borrowed from the Bohemian town of Budweis, which is why a Czech brewery still fights over it in court.

The Budweiser Clydesdales made their public debut on April 7, 1933, to celebrate what?

August Busch Jr. gave the team to his father as a surprise; a case of beer was then hauled to the White House for President Roosevelt.

How many horses pull the Budweiser Clydesdale hitch at any one time?

Ten travel with each team so two can rest, and a Dalmatian has ridden beside the driver since the 1950s.

Roughly how much bigger is Forest Park than New York's Central Park?

At 1,326 acres it holds the zoo, art museum, science center, history museum and the Muny, and draws more than 12 million visitors a year.

How much does it cost to enter the Saint Louis Zoo?

A regional cultural tax district picks up the bill; the zoo's first exhibit was the 1904 fair's giant Flight Cage.

Which zoo director became a TV star as host of Mutual of Omaha's Wild Kingdom?

Perkins ran the St. Louis zoo from 1962 to 1970 while the show made him one of the best-known faces on American television.

Which St. Louis neighborhood is known for Italian heritage and Italian-flag fire hydrants?

Yogi Berra and Joe Garagiola grew up across the street from each other there.

The Eads Bridge, opened in 1874, pioneered the large-scale structural use of which material?

Before the public was allowed on, a circus elephant was walked across it, on the theory that elephants refuse unsafe footing.

Which U.S. president dedicated the Eads Bridge on July 4, 1874?

Fifteen workers died of caisson disease, the bends, while sinking the bridge's foundations into the riverbed.

Dred Scott first sued for his freedom in 1846 in the courts of which place?

The case climbed to the Supreme Court, which ruled 7-2 against him in 1857; freed later that year, he worked as a hotel porter in the city until his death in 1858.

On what date in 1806 did Lewis and Clark's Corps of Discovery arrive back in St. Louis?

They had set out from Camp Dubois, just across the river, on May 14, 1804, with orders from Jefferson to map the newly bought Louisiana Territory.

Charles Lindbergh's plane carried the name Spirit of St. Louis in honour of whom?

The single-seat Ryan monoplane carried him from Long Island to Paris in 33 hours 30 minutes in May 1927.

Which St. Louis-born rock pioneer played monthly at Blueberry Hill from 1996 to 2014?

His 'Johnny B. Goode' is the only rock song aboard the Voyager Golden Record now leaving the solar system.

St. Louis rapper Nelly's diamond-certified 2000 debut album was called what?

He came up through the local group the St. Lunatics, and 'Hot in Herre' later won him a Grammy.

The Delmar Loop takes its name from what?

In 2007 the American Planning Association named it one of the 10 Great Streets in America; brass Walk of Fame stars line its sidewalks.

When the city's grand railway terminal opened in 1894, what distinction did it hold?

Its 31 tracks are long gone; the shed now shelters an aquarium and a 200-foot observation wheel.

St. Louis's City Museum occupies a building that once belonged to which company?

Sculptor Bob Cassilly opened it in 1997; a school bus now hangs off the roof beside a Ferris wheel and a ten-storey slide.

Which St. Louis institution founded in 1859 by Henry Shaw is home to the Climatron?

The Climatron, opened in 1960, was one of the first geodesic-dome greenhouses, and the site's Japanese garden is the largest in North America.

St. Louis is one of three US independent cities outside Virginia. Which is another?

St. Louis voted to secede from St. Louis County in 1876, a 'Great Divorce' that still shapes the region's politics; Carson City is the third.

In the 12th century, Cahokia, across the Mississippi from St. Louis, was possibly larger than which European capital?

Monks Mound there is the largest earthen construction north of Mexico, and the site became a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1982.

Which architect designed the Pruitt-Igoe housing complex, imploded on TV in 1972?

Yamasaki went on to design New York's original World Trade Center towers.

Which architect designed the 10-storey Wainwright Building, an early skyscraper, with his partner Dankmar Adler?

Wright called it the first tall steel office building to be treated as architecture; PBS listed it among 10 Buildings That Changed America.

Founded in 1818, the Jesuit school whose teams are the Billikens holds what distinction?

Saint Louis University has also run a campus in Madrid for more than 50 years.

How many U.S. presidential debates has Washington University in St. Louis hosted?

Founded in 1853 and chartered on George Washington's birthday, it hosted debates in 1992, 2000, 2004 and 2016 plus a 2008 vice-presidential debate.

The St. Louis Browns, the city's American League team, left in 1954 to become which club?

Their only pennant came in 1944, when they lost a World Series to the Cardinals played entirely in one ballpark.

In 1951 Browns owner Bill Veeck sent up a pinch hitter who stood how tall?

Eddie Gaedel wore the number 1/8, walked on four pitches, and was banned from further appearances by the league within days.

St. Louis reached its peak population at which census?

It counted 856,796 residents then; by 2020 the city proper had shrunk to about 301,578.

Which 1944 MGM musical, starring Judy Garland, is set in the run-up to the 1904 World's Fair?

It introduced 'The Trolley Song' and 'Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas', and its director Vincente Minnelli married his star.

A National Historic Landmark in St. Louis preserves the rented home of which ragtime composer?

Joplin lived in the city from 1901 to 1907 and received a posthumous special Pulitzer Prize in 1976.

The Missouri History Museum's Jefferson Memorial Building was paid for with what?

Inside is a replica of the Spirit of St. Louis and other Lindbergh memorabilia.

Between 1900 and 1929, St. Louis was home to roughly how many automakers?

That was close to one in ten of all American carmakers, back when the industry had not yet settled in Detroit.

Which Major League Soccer club began play in St. Louis in 2023?

St. Louis City SC joined MLS in 2023; the city also hosts the Battlehawks of the UFL.

Between the 1870 and 1920 censuses, St. Louis ranked where among US cities by population?

The river port peaked at 856,796 residents in 1950 before suburbanisation drained the city proper to about 300,000 by 2020.

Because of the earthworks left by the Mississippian culture, St. Louis earned what nickname?

The culture's great regional centre at Cahokia Mounds was active from about 900 to 1500.

How old was Auguste Chouteau when Laclède sent him with 30 settlers to found the city in February 1764?

Laclède had picked an elevated site above the Mississippi floodplain not far below its meeting with the Missouri.

The F4 tornado that struck downtown St. Louis on 27 May 1896 killed at least how many people?

It remains one of the deadliest tornadoes in American history; a record 1.8-mile-wide EF3 hit the city again in May 2025.

Which animal was led across St. Louis's new Eads Bridge in 1874 to show the public it was safe?

An elephant from a travelling circus strolled across on June 14, 1874, because people believed the animals would refuse to set foot on an unsafe structure.

Which 1973 horror film grew out of rites Jesuit priests performed on a boy in St. Louis in 1949?

The Exorcist was adapted from William Peter Blatty's 1971 novel, which drew on the case; the final rites took place at the Alexian Brothers Hospital in South St. Louis.

Which St. Louis car-rental company did Jack Taylor name after his World War II aircraft carrier?

Enterprise took its name in 1969 from the USS Enterprise, on which Taylor served; the company had begun in 1957 as Executive Leasing.

Which country ran French-founded St. Louis from 1770 until the American takeover of 1804?

Spain took official control of St. Louis in May 1770, and its administrators stayed in charge even after the territory was secretly handed back to France in 1800.

Which American city was first awarded the 1904 Olympics, before the Games were moved to St. Louis?

Chicago won the vote unanimously, but St. Louis planned rival athletic events for its postponed World's Fair, and in February 1903 the Games were moved.

Which St. Louis-born writer read her poem On the Pulse of Morning at Bill Clinton's inauguration?

Maya Angelou was born Marguerite Johnson in St. Louis in 1928 and was the first poet to read at an inauguration since Robert Frost in 1961.

Which giant 1893 ride was rebuilt for St. Louis's 1904 World's Fair and then dynamited for scrap?

The first Ferris wheel had 36 cars that could each hold up to 60 people; it was blown up in May 1906 because the city required Forest Park to be restored.

East St. Louis, facing the Gateway Arch from the far bank of the Mississippi, lies in which state?

Illinois lies on the far bank, so East St. Louis is a separate city in another state; the village was first named Illinoistown before residents voted to rename it.

The Gateway Arch's two sightseeing riverboats are named for characters created by which author?

Mark Twain's Tom Sawyer and Becky Thatcher give the two boats their names; as a cub pilot, Twain learned the river between New Orleans and St. Louis.

Which 1981 John Carpenter thriller starring Kurt Russell was filmed mainly in St. Louis?

Escape from New York used St. Louis as a ruined Manhattan because fires across the river in East St. Louis had left whole blocks of burnt-out rubble, the wrecked streets the script needed.

Which St. Louis-born poet wrote the playful verses behind Andrew Lloyd Webber's musical Cats?

T. S. Eliot spent his first 16 years in St. Louis, where his grandfather co-founded Washington University; he won the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1948.

Which St. Louis-born dancer became a star in 1920s Paris and later spied for the French Resistance?

Josephine Baker gave up her US citizenship in 1937, and in 2021 she became the first Black woman inducted into the Panthéon in Paris.

Which playwright set The Glass Menagerie in a St. Louis apartment after growing up in the city?

Tennessee Williams moved to St. Louis at eight and lies in the city's Calvary Cemetery, although he had stated a wish to be buried at sea.

Which jazz trumpeter, a dentist's son raised in East St. Louis, left to study at Juilliard in 1944?

Miles Davis dropped out after three semesters because he wanted to perform full-time, and was soon playing in Charlie Parker's bebop quintet.

Which future star, then Anna Mae Bullock, first grabbed the microphone at a club in East St. Louis?

Tina Turner seized the microphone during an intermission of Ike Turner's Kings of Rhythm, having moved to St. Louis in 1956 to live with her mother.

Which Yankees catcher grew up in St. Louis across the street from his friend Joe Garagiola?

Yogi Berra got his nickname from a friend who thought he sat like a yogi from India; the Cardinals passed on him and signed Garagiola instead.

Which St. Louis-born actor taught drama to Ellie Kemper before playing Don Draper in Mad Men?

Jon Hamm went back to his alma mater to teach eighth-grade acting, and years later appeared in Kemper's series Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt.

Which Hungarian-born publisher bought the St. Louis Dispatch in 1878 and merged it with the Post?

Joseph Pulitzer built the Post-Dispatch before buying the New York World, and an endowment in his will created the prizes that carry his name.

Which St. Louis-born programmer co-founded both Twitter and the payments company Square?

Jack Dorsey started Square in a small St. Louis office with Jim McKelvey, who had lost a $2,000 sale of his glasswork because he couldn't take credit cards.

Which Apache leader posed for photographs under Army guard at St. Louis's 1904 World's Fair?

Geronimo sold his crafts at the fair and later recalled that he had not wanted to attend until he was promised protection.

Which Cardinals great played all 22 of his seasons in St. Louis, winning seven batting titles?

Stan Musial got the nickname Stan the Man from Brooklyn Dodgers fans, who chanted it whenever he came to bat at Ebbets Field.

Which Cardinals shortstop, winner of 13 straight Gold Gloves, marked Opening Day with a backflip?

Ozzie Smith was nicknamed the Wizard, and when he was injured in 1986 he let his young son Nikko perform the Opening Day backflip instead.

Which Cardinals slugger hit 70 home runs in 1998 to break Roger Maris's single-season record?

Mark McGwire hit his record-breaking 62nd at home in St. Louis with members of the Maris family in the crowd; Barry Bonds passed his total three years later.

St. Louis's NFL Cardinals, nicknamed the Big Red, left the city in 1988 for which state?

Arizona became the team's home when it moved to Tempe, a suburb of Phoenix; in St. Louis it had been called the Football Cardinals to avoid confusion with the baseball club.

St. Louis's NBA team, champions in 1958 behind Bob Pettit, was sold and moved to which city in 1968?

Atlanta got the Hawks after owner Ben Kerner, unable to resolve the team's arena situation, sold to a real estate developer and a former Georgia governor.

Which Original Six team did the St. Louis Blues beat in seven games to win their first Stanley Cup?

The Boston Bruins had swept the Blues in the 1970 final, so the 4–1 win in Game 7 of the rematch settled an old score.

Which NHL scoring legend joined the St. Louis Blues from Los Angeles in a February 1996 trade?

Wayne Gretzky stayed only until that summer; the Blues had beaten out the New York Rangers for the trade by agreeing to his salary demands.

Which quarterback went from stocking grocery shelves to winning a Super Bowl with St. Louis?

Kurt Warner earned $5.50 an hour at an Iowa Hy-Vee in 1994; five years later he was league MVP and Super Bowl MVP in his first season as a starter.

Which St. Louis-born announcer spent 25 years calling Cardinals games and later became the Cubs' voice?

Harry Caray was born Harry Carabina in St. Louis and is credited with popularizing the crowd sing-along during the seventh-inning stretch.

Which East St. Louis-born athlete won heptathlon and long jump gold at the 1988 Seoul Olympics?

Jackie Joyner-Kersee was named after First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy, and her brother Al Joyner is an Olympic champion too, in the triple jump.

Which Forest Park amphitheatre gives away about 1,500 free seats at every summer musical it stages?

The Muny, short for Municipal Opera, was built in just 49 days in 1917 and seats 11,000, with the last nine rows free on a first-come basis.

Which art form covers the Cathedral Basilica of Saint Louis with 41.5 million pieces of glass?

Mosaics went up inside the cathedral from 1912 until 1988, covering 83,000 square feet in more than 7,000 colours.

Which vehicle juts out over the edge of the roof at City Museum in downtown St. Louis?

A school bus hangs past the edge of the building, and visitors can walk inside and open the door from the driver's seat.

Gateway Arch National Park in St. Louis holds which distinction among America's national parks?

The smallest national park in the country took that title from Hot Springs in Arkansas when the Jefferson National Expansion Memorial was renamed in 2018.

Which St. Louis company built the Mercury capsules that carried America's first astronauts?

McDonnell marked the capsule's success by adding it to the company logo, circling a globe, and in 1967 merged with Douglas to form McDonnell Douglas.

Which St. Louis company, founded in 1901 to make saccharin, took its name from the founder's wife?

Monsanto was the maiden name of Olga Méndez Monsanto, wife of founder John Francis Queeny; other early products were caffeine and vanillin.

Which St. Louis pet-food maker adopted a checkerboard as its trademark back in 1902?

Purina's checkerboard was inspired by founder William Danforth's childhood memory of a family dressed in clothes all cut from the same checked cloth.

Which toy retailer did Maxine Clark launch with a first store at the Saint Louis Galleria in 1997?

Build-A-Bear grew out of Clark's ideas for interactive stores after she left Payless ShoeSource, and it moved its headquarters to downtown St. Louis in 2020.

St. Louis educator Susan Blow opened America's first public version of which institution in 1873?

A kindergarten opened under Blow in the Carondelet district, and she paid its expenses herself that first year; within three years her system had fifty teachers.

Which festival does St. Louis's Soulard district mark with a pet parade and wiener dog races?

Mardi Gras in Soulard was revived in the early 1980s by patrons of Hilary's bar, who decided to march to a neighbouring bar.

Which former Route 66 crossing of the Mississippi at St. Louis has a 22-degree bend in the middle?

The Chain of Rocks Bridge bends because of a water intake and bedrock too weak to carry it straight across; it was later given over to walkers and cyclists.

Which seismic zone, named for a Missouri town, toppled chimneys in St. Louis in February 1812?

The New Madrid zone produced four of the largest earthquakes in recorded North American history within three months, and the last one destroyed the town itself.

Which St. Louis street game, a miniature baseball with no base-running, dates from about 1890?

Corkball spread across the country after St. Louis servicemen taught it to their comrades during World War II and the Korean War.

Which weekly paper, launched in St. Louis in 1886, earned the nickname the Bible of Baseball?

The Sporting News was founded by Alfred H. Spink, a director of the St. Louis Browns, and sold for five cents, covering horse racing and wrestling as well as baseball.

Which St. Louis-born horror star, a candy executive's son, narrated Michael Jackson's Thriller?

Vincent Price was the youngest of four children of the president of the National Candy Company, and he also lent his voice to animated films and radio dramas.

Five St. Louis players started when the US upset which nation 1–0 at the first post-war World Cup?

England were heavy favourites; the only American journalist present, from the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, had taken time off work to cover the tournament.

Which St. Louis-raised Cardinal hit the walk-off home run that won Game 6 of the 2011 World Series?

David Freese grew up a Cardinals fan in suburban Wildwood and was named World Series MVP after the win over the Texas Rangers.

In which Rick Riordan novel does Percy Jackson leap from the Gateway Arch into the Mississippi?

The Lightning Thief sends Percy up the Arch on his way to California; at the top he faces Echidna and the Chimera before making the jump.

Which winger, acquired from Calgary in 1988, scored 86 goals for the St. Louis Blues in 1990–91?

Brett Hull was nicknamed the Golden Brett, a play on the Golden Jet, the nickname of his father and fellow Hall of Famer Bobby Hull.

Which actor from the St. Louis suburb of Affton played family patriarch Dan Conner on Roseanne?

John Goodman played offensive guard and defensive tackle at Affton High, and the Roseanne role brought him seven Emmy nominations.