"The Gateway to the West"
Established as a French trading post in 1764, St. Louis served as a gateway to the west following the Louisiana Purchase and as a major port for steamboats traveling the Mississippi. Today the city's landmark is the soaring, shining steel Gateway Arch, designed by Eero Saarinen in 1966 to commemorate western-bound pioneers. Although visitors often make it their first stop, there's plenty more beckoning, including the restored Union Station, first-rate museums, and numerous attractions geared toward children, many of them free, making St. Louis a prime family destination.
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