I recently had a birthday that would allow me to get an America the Beautiful Park Pass at any National Park and so I chose the Arch. I had visited the outside Arch grounds during the Pandemic but now I was anxious to see the renovations inside and the new museum.
I was very impressed. The museum does a great job of telling the larger story of St. Louis as the gateway to the West and weaves in local stories as well. I really enjoyed the short virtual reality movie which took you along the Riverfront. It was a time when slavery was intersecting with the arrival of German immigrants. The narrative that I found here was a parallel to what in a historic display in Jefferson City, Missouri. German immigrants played a large role in helping the Union cause and keeping Missouri from joining the Confederacy.
This display about the Wainwright building brought back memories of my friend Karen who recently passed away. Karen spent her career working for the Missouri Department of Social Services and her office was in this historic building. The museum covers so much of the larger American narrative as well as St. Louis history.
Checkout Sarah Styf’s journey to the St. Louis Arch for the perspective of someone who doesn’t live in St. Louis.
It looks like you had a good time!