St. Louis Gateway Arch - St. Louis, MO Review

America's tallest national monument.  But, how did it all begin?  From About.com, "In 1935, the federal government selected the St. Louis riverfront as the site for a new national monument honoring the pioneers who explored the American West."

1935!  Just goes to show how slowly our government works.  It wasn't until 1947 the government began looking for an architect.  The winning architect (Eero Saarinen) sadly never saw his design completed.  He died of a brain tumor in 1961 at the age of 51, and is buried in Michigan.  The Arch wasn't completed until October 28, 1965.

I remember as a boy, every day the weather was nice, workers downtown would eat lunch outside just to watch the construction.  And back then, there was no OSHA. (Occupational Safety & Health Administration) Imagine being hundreds of feet up in the air with no safety net?  Although there were no harnesses worn by the men working on the Arch and the wind conditions made it a dangerous job, no one was killed while working on the Arch.  Under current regulations -  the Gateway Arch couldn't be built.

Once you get to the top, if you're not afraid of heights and a cramped "tram car", the view is panoramic & breathtaking.  Take a good camera!  The best view of the Arch from the outside can be seen from the newly opened Malcolm W. Martin Memorial Park across the river in East St. Louis.

Stainless steel standing 630 feet tall.  A gleeming tribute to American ingenuity and St. Louis as being "The Gateway to the West".