Saint Louis, Missouri

City: Saint Louis

County: Saint Louis

State: Missouri

Lat/Long: 38.6167, -90.1833

Acquired from France in the Louisiana Purchase, St. Louis became the capital of the Louisiana Territory, and later the Missouri Territory and the state of Missouri. It was a major trading post between the settled eastern half of North America and the frontier. The city also soon became the primary northern port along the Mississippi River, frequently receiving and sending steamships and barges to and from New Orleans. All this economic activity served to steadily increase St. Louis's population throughout the first half of the 19th Century. Although the city was politically split during the Civil War, it never fell to Confederate forces and served as the primary federal base of operations in Missouri.

James Neal Primm, Lion of the Valley: St. Louis, Missouri, 1764-1980, 3rd ed. (St. Louis: Missouri Historical Society Press, 1998), 68-70, 72-271.