St. Louis history runs deeper than its Arch: a pre-Columbian city of 20,000 at Cahokia, a French fur-trading village of 1764, the courtroom that lit the fuse of the Civil War, and the 1904 World's Fair grounds still standing in Forest Park.
UNESCO World Heritage site across the river in Collinsville, IL. Monks Mound rises 30 m in four terraces — the largest earthwork in the Americas, built c. 1050 CE by a city of up to 20,000. Interpretive Centre open Wed–Sun 9:00–17:00.
A reconstructed circle of red cedar posts marking equinox and solstice sunrises over Monks Mound. Nearby Mound 72 held the 'Birdman' burial — a man on 20,000 shell beads, alongside 250 other bodies including mass sacrificial graves.
The 1839 Greek Revival courthouse with a cast-iron dome modelled on St. Peter's. Dred and Harriet Scott sued for freedom here in 1846; Virginia Minor's 1873 suit for women's suffrage began in the same building. Reopened 2025 after restoration.
The oldest cathedral west of the Mississippi, consecrated 1834 on the parish plot laid out by French founders Laclède and Chouteau in 1764 — the only original city block never sold. Its bell dates to 1772; the crypt holds early bishops.
Free museum whose 1913 Jefferson Memorial Building was funded by 1904 World's Fair profits. Permanent galleries cover the Fair (20 million visitors), Lindbergh's Spirit of St. Louis artefacts, and the 1917 East St. Louis race riot. Open daily 10:00–17:00.
The equestrian bronze of Louis IX stood at the entrance to the 1904 World's Fair's Palace of Fine Arts, the city's symbol before the Arch. Art Hill below is the Fair's former cascade site; the Grand Basin was restored in 2004 for the centenary.
One of the largest rail collections anywhere: 190 locomotives and cars, including the 1855 'Big Boy' 4006, a Pullman car, and Chrysler's turbine cars. Sits on the 1853 Pacific Railroad cut — the first rail tunnel west of the Mississippi.
James Eads's 1874 road-and-rail bridge — the first major steel structure in the world and the longest arch bridge of its day, sunk on pneumatic caissons that gave workers 'the bends'. Still carries MetroLink trains on its lower deck.
The 1860s brick flat at 2658 Delmar where Joplin lived 1901–1903, composing 'The Entertainer' after 'Maple Leaf Rag' made him famous. Tours include a working 1900s player piano with Joplin's own piano rolls. Open Mon–Sat.
The city's oldest neighbourhood, with a public market chartered in 1779 and gifted to the city by Julia Soulard in 1841. Rows of Second Empire and Federal brick houses were built by German immigrants who arrived after the 1848 revolutions.
An 1848 farmhouse expanded in 1863 into a Greek Revival mansion by French-Creole physician Nicolas DeMenil. Built over Cherokee Cave and preserved from demolition by I-55 in the 1960s. Tours Wed–Sat, on the hour.
Anheuser-Busch built the Dutch-style windmill in 1917 as a halfway stop for brewery workers. The German district around it became home to the largest Bosnian population outside Europe after the 1990s war — cevapi shops sit beside old Turnvereine halls.