St. Louis

The land around the meeting of the Mississippi and Missouri rivers was home to Native American cultures for thousands of years; across the river, Cahokia was the largest city of the Mississippian culture around 1050–1350. In February 1764, after France had lost the Seven Years' War, the merchant Pierre Laclède sent his 14-year-old stepson Auguste Chouteau with about 30 settlers to clear the site for a fur-trading post, named after King Louis IX of France. Spanish, then briefly French, then from 1804 American, it became the gateway to the West, and the Old Courthouse later saw the first trials of the Dred Scott case.

Steamboats and railways made it a great port and industrial city — from 1870 until 1920 it was the fourth-largest city in the United States. German immigrants built breweries, including Anheuser-Busch, and companies such as Ralston Purina were founded here. The city separated from St. Louis County in 1877, fixing its boundaries. A tornado in 1896 killed at least 255 people, and in 1904 the city hosted the World's Fair and the first Olympic Games held outside Europe, leaving its mark on Forest Park.

In the 20th century people and industry moved to the suburbs, and the Pruitt–Igoe housing project, demolished less than two decades after it was built, became a symbol of failed public housing. The Gateway Arch was completed in 1965. Bosnian refugees arrived in large numbers from the 1990s, the Cortex innovation district has grown since 2002, and on 16 May 2025 an EF3 tornado up to 1.8 miles wide, the largest recorded in the region, struck parts of the city, causing damage the mayor put at up to $1.6 billion.

St. Louis is identified with music and the performing arts, especially blues, jazz and ragtime. The St. Louis Symphony Orchestra plays at Powell Symphony Hall in Grand Center, and the restored Fox Theatre is a performing arts centre. The free art museum, zoo and history museum, paid for by a regional cultural tax, are a source of civic pride.

Sport is followed passionately. The Cardinals have won 11 World Series, more than any other National League team, most recently in 2011; the Blues won the Stanley Cup in 2019, making St. Louis one of only eight North American cities with titles in all four major leagues; and St. Louis City SC began playing Major League Soccer in 2023.

The city's French origins survive in its Mardi Gras and Bastille Day celebrations in Soulard, its German heritage in breweries and churches, and its Italian heritage on the Hill. The metropolitan area has an estimated 70,000 Bosnians, tied with Chicago for the largest Bosnian population in the United States, many living around Bevo Mill. The Cathedral Basilica in the Central West End houses the second-largest collection of mosaics in the world.

St. Louis had about 302,000 residents at the 2020 census, a fraction of its former size, while its metropolitan area, which extends into Illinois, has more than 2.8 million. Because the city has been separate from St. Louis County since 1877, most of the metropolitan population lives in suburbs outside its limits.

The economy rests on services, manufacturing, trade, transport and aviation. Anheuser-Busch, now owned by the Belgian-based InBev, Enterprise Holdings, Bunge Global, Wells Fargo Advisors, World Wide Technology and the grocery chain Schnuck Markets are among the large companies headquartered in the region, and Boeing's defence business continues the work of McDonnell Douglas. The Cortex district in the Central West End has drawn technology firms.

The city is sharply divided. The north side is overwhelmingly African American, while the south side has the Bosnian community of Bevo Mill and Hispanic residents around Cherokee Street; Italian Americans are concentrated on the Hill. Neighbourhoods in the central corridor, such as Forest Park Southeast, have seen major investment since the early 2010s.

St. Louis has a list of foods found almost nowhere else. Toasted ravioli — breaded, deep-fried and served with a dipping sauce — was created here, and St. Louis-style pizza has a thin crust, Provel cheese and is cut into small squares. Gooey butter cake, a flat, dense cake with a rich topping, comes from the city's bakeries; the slinger and the Gerber sandwich are other local dishes, and grilled pork steaks are a regional favourite.

The Hill, one of the largest Little Italy neighbourhoods in the United States, is the place for Italian restaurants. The Soulard Farmers Market, the city's oldest public market, sells produce, fish and cheese, and Bevo Mill has many Bosnian-owned businesses. The Delmar Loop and the Central West End have many of the newer restaurants.

Frozen custard is the summer treat: Ted Drewes serves its 'concrete', custard blended with ingredients so thick that the spoon stays put when the cup is turned upside down. Beer is part of the city's identity, from the Anheuser-Busch brewery, with its historic buildings and Clydesdale horses, to newer craft breweries.