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The city of Saint Louis is located on the west side of the Mississippi River in Missouri. This view of the Riverfront is from the east side of the river looking at the skyline of St. Louis.

The dominate architectural structure is the Gateway Arch. It is affectionately just referred to it as "the Arch". It is a part of the Jefferson National Expansion Memorial. Although the purpose of the monument, "the gateway to the west", was a tribute to the role of the city in the westward expansion of the United States made possible by the Louisiana Purchase, it has become a unique symbol and treasured landmark of the city of Saint Louis.

The Arch rises 630 feet in the air above the city and is 630 feet wide. The cross section of the arch is an equilateral triangle that is 51 feet at the base and 17 feet at the top. It is covered by a 1/4 inch thick, stainless-steel skin over an inner wall of steel plate 3/8 inch thick and filled with concrete to the 300 feet level. This steel and concrete structure weighs 43,000 tons. Located within the structure are specially designed cable cars that carry visitors to the top where they can look out over the city.

Eero Saarinen's design for the Arch won the competition held in 1948 to choose the design for the monument. Sadly, he did not live to see the beginning of the building of the Arch that began 15 years later. It was completed in 1965.

The Arch is a beloved and treasured landmark of the Saint Louis area.

The urban riverfront park is named the Jefferson National Expansion Memorial in honor of Thomas Jefferson, our country's third president, who authorized the Louisiana Purchase from Napoleon in 1803. This purchase doubled the size of the United States.

Located underground, beneath the Arch, is the Museum of Westward Expansion. The area is as large as a football field and houses a museum and two theaters bring the drama of the Western expansion to life for the visitor.

On the left end of the Riverfront, the old Busch Stadium can be seen. This was the home of the St. Louis Cardinals until it was demolished at the end of the 2005 baseball season to make way for a new stadium. The repeating arches on the stadium echo the arch on the Riverfront.

The home of the Saint Louis football Rams, the Edward Jones Dome, is seen on the right end of the Riverfront.

Centered under the arch, but located farther to the west, is the old Courthouse.