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St. Louis celebrates: special events and exhibitions recall colorful chapters in the history of Missouri's largest city

Travel America, May-June, 2004 by Barbara Gibbs Ostmann

That famous tune sung by Judy Garland, "Meet Me in St. Louis, Louis," takes on new meaning this year as St. Louis celebrates the historic '04s--the 1904 World's Fair and Olympics and the 1804 Louisiana Purchase Transfer and Lewis and Clark Expedition. Come join the party!

MEET ME AT THE FAIR

The Louisiana Purchase Exposition, also known as the World's Fair, opened on April 30, 1904, in St. Louis's Forest Park. Hailed as the greatest of the turn-of-the-century fairs, it attracted almost 20 million people from around the world during its seven-month run.

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By any standards, the 1904 World's Fair was a mind-boggling production. Almost 1,500 buildings, including eight grand palaces; 75 miles of roads and walks; and 15 miles of railroad were built on 1,200 acres in or near Forest Park. The fair offered almost three million staged events. Sixty-two nations participated, showcasing their arts, culture, and entertainment.

Displays trumpeted the latest international advances in technology, fine arts, science, and education. Visitors saw such new inventions as baby incubators, automatic telephone answering machines, heavier-than-air flying machines, coin changers, and electric clocks. For most fairgoers, it was their first look at automobiles and electric lights.

The fair was immortalized in the 1944 movie musical Meet Me in St. Louis, starring Judy Garland and featuring the now-famous title song.

The Missouri Historical Society's centennial exhibition, "The 1904 World's Fair: Looking Back at Looking Forward," opens May 2 and runs through April 2008 at the Missouri History Museum in Forest Park. The exhibition embodies the sights, sounds, and splendor of the fair, and explores the way the citizens of 1904 viewed the future.

A highlight of the 1904 Fair was "The World's Greatest Ride," a 256-foot Ferris wheel that carried 1,440 passengers--40 in each of its 36 cars. Modern-day visitors can recreate the spirit of the event with a ride on the 115-foot Celebrate 2004 Giant Ferris Wheel in Forest Park from May 29 to Aug. 26.

LEGACY OF LEWIS AND CLARK

The 1904 World's Fair celebrated the centennial of President Thomas Jefferson's purchase of the Louisiana Territory from France and the exploration of the territory by Meriwether Lewis and William Clark and the Corps of Discovery.

Because the St. Louis area was both the starting and stopping point of the expedition, bicentennial fervor is high. "Lewis & Clark: The National Bicentennial Exhibition" runs through Sept. 6 at the Missouri History Museum. The exhibit includes the handwritten, illustrated, elk-skin field journal of William Clark and other expedition artifacts that have not been displayed in one place since 1806.

The official transfer of the Upper Louisiana Territory from Spain to France to the United States took place March 9-10, 1804, in St. Louis. The Louisiana Purchase Transfer Document is on view at the Missouri History Museum.

Two signature events, designated by the National Lewis and Clark Bicentennial Council, are on tap for the area in May. "Expedition's Departure: Camp River Dubois" is May 13-16 in the Illinois communities of Hartford and Wood River, just minutes away from downtown St. Louis. "Preparations Complete, The Expedition Faces West" is May 14-23 in St. Charles, 25 miles west of the Gateway Arch.

The Arch, officially named the Jefferson National Expansion Memorial, was built to honor Thomas Jefferson's vision of a continental United States. In the Museum of Westward Expansion under the Arch, the National Park Service exhibit "Lewis & Clark: Imagining the Expedition from St. Louis" is on display until January.

Almost every major area institution is offering Lewis and Clark-themed exhibits and events. Catch a glimpse of animals described in the explorer's journals on a self-guided walking tour at the St. Louis Zoo in Forest Park. At the park's St. Louis Art Museum, peruse "The Art of the Osage," an exhibition on the predominant Native American culture in the region at the time of the expedition.

OLYMPIC OUTLOOK

St. Louis was the site of the 1904 Summer Olympic Games, the first held in the United States. Diving made its Olympic debut in St. Louis, and the 1904 Olympic Marathon was the first marathon held west of the Mississippi River.

The U.S. Olympic Marathon Team Trials were held in April in Forest Park, and the U.S. Olympic Diving Trials will be June 9-13 at the Rec-Plex in the St. Louis suburb of St. Peters.

In tribute to St. Louis's Olympic past as well as to its present as one of the country's best sports cities, it is one of four U.S. cities on the Global Olympic Torch Relay route as the flame heads to Athens, Greece, for the Summer Games this August. On June 17, the torch will be carried 30-plus miles through St. Louis, ending with an Olympic Centennial Celebration in Forest Park.

RIVER SPLASH AND EATS BRIDGE

As part of Celebrate 2004, the St. Louis Mississippi Riverfront will come alive with Eats Bridge and River Splash each weekend from July 15 to August 22. Historic Eads Bridge, built in 1874, will become Eats Bridge--an outdoor dining room with great views of the St. Louis skyline, serving Friday and Saturday dinner and Sunday brunch. On Thursday, Friday, and Saturday nights, River Splash, a multimedia display of fireworks, lasers, video, and sound projected onto a huge water screen on the river, will light up the riverfront. Free concerts will precede each multimedia show.

St. Louis celebrates: special events and exhibitions recall colorful chapters in the history of Missouri's largest city

Travel America, May-June, 2004 by Barbara Gibbs Ostmann

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