Timeline of St. Louis facts for kids

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.
• 1767 - It was "a log-cabin village of perhaps 500 inhabitants".
• 1770 - Spanish in power.
• 1780 – "Indian attack."
• 1785 - Floods.
• 1799 – Population: 925.

19th century

1800s–1850s

• 1800 – St. Louis becomes part of French Louisiana.
• 1804
  • St. Louis becomes part of U.S. territory per Louisiana Purchase.
  • Post Office established.
• 1805 – St. Louis becomes capital of the U.S. Louisiana Territory.
• 1808 – Missouri Gazette newspaper begins publication.
• 1809
  • Town incorporated.
  • Missouri Fur Company established.
• 1811 – December 16: New Madrid earthquake.
• 1812 – St. Louis County established.
• 1815 – Theatre opens.
• 1816 – Bank of St. Louis incorporated.
• 1818
  • Saint Louis Academy founded.
  • Baptist Church built.
• 1819 – Erin Benevolent Society founded.
• 1820
  • June: Missouri constitutional convention held.
  • September: Missouri General Assembly convenes.
• 1821
  • St. Louis becomes part of the new U.S. state of Missouri.
  • City Directory begins publication.
• 1822
  • City of St. Louis incorporated.
  • Area of city: 385 acres.
• 1823 – William Carr Lane becomes mayor.
• 1825 – Lafayette visits town.
• 1826 – Catholic Diocese of St. Louis established.
• 1828 – County Courthouse built.
• 1830 – Population: 4,977.
• 1832 - Cholera.
• 1834
  • Daily Evening Herald newspaper begins publication.
  • Cathedral of St. Louis consecrated.
• 1835 – Anzeiger des Westens German-language newspaper begins publication.
• 1836 – Chamber of Commerce established.
• 1837 – Daniel Webster visits city.
• 1840
  • City boundaries expanded.
  • Population: 16,469.
• 1841
  • United Hebrew Congregation founded.
  • Area of city: 4.5 square miles.
• 1844
  • Anti-immigration unrest.
  • Floods.
• 1846
  • Dred Scott files lawsuit.
  • Mercantile Library Association established.
• 1847 – Boatmen's Savings Institution chartered.
• 1849
  • Concordia Seminary relocates to St. Louis.
  • Cholera epidemic.
  • Fire.
  • Bellefontaine Cemetery established.
• 1850
  • Third Baptist Church established.
  • Population: 77,860.
• 1851 – Bates' Theatre opens.
• 1852
  • Iron Mountain railroad built.
  • Bavarian Brewery in business.
• 1853 – Washington University founded.
• 1854 – Czech Slavonic Benevolent Society founded.
• 1856
  • Academy of Science founded.
  • St. Louis Agricultural and Mechanical Fair begins.
  • Grand Opera House opens.
• 1857
  • For the next quarter century, the city was "the centre of an idealistic philosophical movement".
  • St. Louis Fire Department established.
  • Lindell Hotel in business.
  • Dred Scott decision in March, 1857.
  • Westliche Post (German language newspaper) established. (closed 1938)
• 1859
  • Horse-drawn streetcars begin operating .
  • Mary Institute founded.
  • Synagogue consecrated on Sixth Street.
  • Missouri Botanical Garden founded.

1860s–1890s

• 1860 – Population: 160,773.
• 1861 – Western Sanitary Commission and Ladies Union Aid Society established.
• 1862 – Hoelke and Benecke photo studio in business.
• 1865
  • Sokol sport club, and Germania Association established.
  • St. Louis Public Library established.
  • Southern Hotel and Meyer & Brother drug store in business.
• 1866
  • Cholera epidemic.
  • Missouri Historical Society headquartered in city.
  • Olympic Theatre opens.
• 1867 – City Board of Health and Compton Hill Reservoir Park established.
• 1869 – Congregation Shaare Emeth founded.
• 1870
  • Carondelet becomes part of St. Louis.
  • Area of city: 17.98 square miles.
  • Population: 310,864.
• 1871
  • 1871 St. Louis tornado.
  • Puck German-language magazine begins publication.
• 1872
  • Maryville College of the Sacred Heart and University Club founded.
  • Catholic Amerika begins publication.
  • Smallpox outbreak.
• 1873 – Laclede Gas Light Company in business.
• 1874 – Eads Bridge opened.
• 1875
  • Merchants Exchange opens.
  • 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.
• 1877
  • City secedes from St. Louis County.
  • July: 1877 St. Louis general strike.
• 1878 – St. Louis Post-Dispatch newspaper begins publication.
• 1879
  • Anheuser-Busch Brewing Association and J.C. Strauss photo studio in business.
  • St. Louis Children's Hospital opened.
  • St. Louis School of Fine Arts opened.
  • Pope's Theatre opens.
• 1880
  • St. Stanislaus Kostka Church built.
  • Population: 350,518.
• 1882 – Mallinckrodt Chemical Works incorporated.
• 1883 – St. Louis Exposition and Music Hall opens.
• 1884 – St. Louis Maroons baseball team active.
• 1886
  • May 1: Labour strike.
  • St. Louis Watchmaking School and Congregation Temple Israel founded.
• 1888 – City hosts 1888 Democratic National Convention.
• 1889
  • Missouri Botanical Garden established.
  • Tower Grove Park established.
  • Merchants Bridge opened.
• 1890
  • Portland and Westmoreland Places begin to develop.
  • Population: 451,770.
• 1891
  • Rubicam Business School established.
  • Wainwright Building constructed.
  • Washington University School of Medicine opened.
  • American Car Company in business.
  • Air conditioning installed in the Ice Palace beerhall.
• 1892
  • St. Louis Browns baseball team active.
  • St. Louis Country Club established.
  • Stix Baer & Fuller (shop) in business.
  • National People's Party founded in St. Louis.
• 1894 – Union Station opens.
• 1896
  • May: 1896 St. Louis–East St. Louis tornado.
  • June: Flood.
  • 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.
  • Population: 575,238.
• 1902 – Sportsman's Park opens.
• 1903 – Missouri Athletic Club founded.
• 1904
  • Buckingham Hotel built.
  • Inside Inn an hotel built of wood.
  • April: St. Louis World's Fair opens;
  • Saint Louis Art Museum built.
  • City hosts 1904 Summer Olympics and 1904 Democratic National Convention.
  • Louisiana Purchase Exposition held.
• 1905
  • May Department Store relocates to St. Louis.
  • Shaare Zedek Synagogue founded.
• 1906
  • Racquet Club of St. Louis founded.
  • Statue of Louis IX of France unveiled in Forest Park.
• 1908
  • Aero Club of St. Louis incorporated.
  • Aeronautic Supply Company in business.
  • St. Louis Coliseum re-built.
  • Fairground Park established.
• 1909 – October: City centennial.
• 1910 – Population: 687,029.
• 1911
  • Urban League branch established.
  • Famous-Barr (shop) in business.
  • Benoist Flying School established.
• 1912
  • Ethical Society building constructed.
  • St. Louis Argus newspaper begins publication.
  • Missouri Peace Society founded.
• 1913 – Henry Kiel becomes mayor.
• 1914
  • Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis begins operating.
  • National Association for the Advancement of Colored People branch established.
  • Railway Exchange Building constructed.
  • "Pageant and Masque of Saint Louis" held.
  • St. Louis Zoo incorporated.
  • Barnes Hospital opened.
  • New charter adopted reducong the elective officers to terms of four years.
  • Cathedral Basilica of Saint Louis completed.
• 1915 – Junior League of St. Louis organized.
• 1917
  • MacArthur Bridge opens.
  • St. Louis Municipal Opera Theatre (The Muny) opens
• 1918
  • Poro beauty school opens.
• 1919
  • League of Women Voters of St. Louis organized.
  • City Hospital No. 2 begins operating.
  • Pine Street YMCA opens.
• 1920
  • Chase Hotel built.
  • Population: 772,897.
• 1921
  • WEW radio begins broadcasting.
  • American Association of University Women chapter active.
• 1925 – St. Louis Theater opens.
• 1926
  • Southwestern Bell Building constructed.
  • New Masonic Temple built.
• 1927
  • Racquet Club of St. Louis funds Lindbergh's Spirit of St. Louis airplane.
  • Tornado.
  • B.F. Mahoney Aircraft Corporation in business.
• 1928 – St. Louis American newspaper begins publication.
• 1929
  • Fox Theatre opens.
  • St. Louis Arena opened.
• 1930 – Lambert-St. Louis Municipal Airport dedicated.
• 1931 – Rombauer's Joy of Cooking published.
• 1933
  • Firmin Desloge Hospital opens.
  • Anheuser-Busch's Budweiser Clydesdales established.
• 1935 – Neighborhood Gardens (housing) opens.
• 1937 – Floral Conservatory built in Forest Park.
• 1939
  • 1939 St. Louis smog.
  • Oldani's restaurant in business.
• 1940 – Population: 816,048.
• 1942 – George Hudson Orchestra debuts.
• 1943 – Campbell House Museum opens.
• 1947 – Congress of Racial Equality chapter organized.
• 1948 – U.S. Supreme Court decides Shelley v. Kraemer lawsuit.
• 1949 – Fairground Park riot.
• 1950 – Population: 856,796.
• 1951 – Veterans' Memorial Bridge built.
• 1954
  • KETC television begins broadcasting.
  • Pruitt–Igoe housing built.
• 1955
  • Peabody Coal Company relocates to St. Louis.
  • Hellmuth, Obata and Kassabaum architects in business.
• 1958 – Landmarks Association of St. Louis established.
• 1959 – St. Louis sit-in during the Civil Rights Movement.
• 1960
  • Population: 750,026.
  • Sister city relationship established with Stuttgart, Germany.
  • The National Football League's Chicago Cardinals relocate to St. Louis. They will remain through 1987.
• 1962 – St. Louis Community College established.
• 1963
  • University of Missouri–St. Louis established.
  • MetroBus begins operating.
  • Planetarium opens.
• 1964
  • LaClede Town (housing) opens.
  • Imo's Pizza in business in Shaw.
  • Cardinals win the World Series, defeating New York Yankees in seven games
• 1965
  • Gateway Arch erected.
  • Regional East-West Gateway Council of Governments established.
• 1966 – Busch Stadium opens.
• 1967
  • Poplar Street Bridge completed.
  • St. Louis Blues - National Hockey League - NHL Expansion ice hockey team formed.
  • K-SHE 95 (94.7) FM radio station begins broadcasting its current Rock n' Roll format.
  • Cardinals win the World Series, defeating Boston Red Sox in seven games
• 1969 – Laclede Gas Building constructed.
• 1970
  • Student antiwar demonstration.
  • Population: 622,236.
• 1972 - Demolition of Pruitt-Igoe begins and will last four years.
• 1974
  • St. Louis Port Authority created.
  • Sister city relationship established with Suwa, Japan.
• 1976 – Sister city relationship established with Lyon, France.
• 1977
  • St. Louis Convention Center opens.
  • James F. Conway becomes mayor.
  • Sister city relationship established with Galway, Ireland.
• 1979 – Sister city relationship established with Nanjing, China.

1980s–1990s

• 1980 - Contemporary Art Museum St. Louis established.
• 1981 – Gwen B. Giles is the first woman and first African-American appointed to lead the St. Louis City Assessor's Office.
• 1982 - Cardinals win World Series, defeating Milwaukee Brewers in seven games
• 1986
  • Express Scripts and Galleria Cinema in business.
  • Southwestern Bell Telephone Building constructed.
• 1987
  • Sister city relationship established with Bologna, Italy.
  • Lindbergh Plaza cinema in business.
  • Football Cardinals play final season in St. Louis before relocating to Arizona
• 1989 – One Metropolitan Square (hi-rise) built.
• 1990
  • Population: 396,685.
  • Sister city relationship established with Georgetown, Guyana.
• 1991 - Hindu Temple of St. Louis founded.
• 1992 – Sister city relationships established with Szczecin, Poland and Samara, Russia.
• 1993 – MetroLink begins operating.
• 1994
  • Kiel Center arena opens.
  • Sister city relationship established with Saint-Louis, Senegal.
• 1995
  • St. Louis Rams football team relocates from Los Angeles..
  • Trans World Dome (stadium) opens.
• 1997
  • City website online (approximate date).
  • Ameren Corporation in business.
  • Clarence Harmon becomes mayor.
  • St. Louis Missouri Temple inaugurated.

21st-century

• 2000 – Population: 348,189.
• 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.
  • Veterans for Peace headquartered in St. Louis.
• 2002 – St. Louis Building Arts Foundation active (approximate date).
• 2003 – St. Louis Area Regional Response System headquartered in city.
• 2004 – Sister city relationship established with Bogor, Indonesia.
• 2006
  • New Busch Stadium built.
  • Cardinals win World Series, defeating Detroit Tigers in five games
• 2007 – Center for Citizen Leadership headquartered in St. Louis.
• 2008 – Sister city relationship established with Brčko, Bosnia and Herzegovina.
• 2009 – Citygarden opens.
• 2010 – Population: 319,294; metro 2,812,896.
• 2011
  • October: Occupy St. Louis begins.
  • Cardinals win World Series, defeating Texas Rangers in seven games
• 2014
  • August 9: Shooting in nearby Ferguson, unrest ensues.
  • Musial Bridge and Center for Jazz open.
• 2016
  • Rams leave St. Louis and become the L.A. Rams once again.
• 2019 - Blues win Stanley Cup for the first time, defeating Boston Bruins in seven games
• 2023 - St. Louis City Stadium scheduled to open