Also known as: Jefferson National Expansion Memorial Built: 1963-1965 Cost: US$15,000,000.00 Designed by: Eero Saarinen Type: Monument Maximum Height: 630 feet / 192 meters Location: Gateway National Park, Saint Louis, United States
T he Gateway Arch is the most recognizable symbol of the city of Saint Louis. The 630-foot tall stainless steel arch commemorates the great westward expansion of the United States as thousands of people packed up everything they had and made their way west to carve new lives out of the wilderness. Surrounding the arch are 90 acres of grass and parks. In fact, the grounds are all a national park, and the monument is the tallest man-made national monument in the United States.. Below the sod is an extensive pioneer museum featuring artifacts and films documenting westward expansion. There is also a film showing the construction of the arch itself. A fire closed Gateway Arch in 1998, but it has since reopened to visitors. For a fee, you can squeeze into a mechanical egg that will carry you up to the top where two rows of windows provide views to the east and the west. At the top the arch is designed to sway up to 18 inches in strong winds and earthquakes.
The first models of the arch created by the architect were made with pipe cleaners.
July 21, 2007 - Hundreds of people are trapped inside the arch for hours due to a power failure. About 200 people watching a fireworks show were stranded at the top while about 80 people were stuck in the mechanical eggs that transport people to the top.
jesse
Tuesday, November 27th, 2007 @ 11:19am
Rating: Five stars. i love ur pics and i was born in missouri not to far from that it is so pretty and the view is so cool
Dawn
Tuesday, April 3rd, 2007 @ 3:14pm
Rating: Five stars. This is great I love the arch-u must go up if u have not yet
Daisy
Thursday, January 4th, 2007 @ 10:18am
Rating: Five stars. I was up there with my aunt once when she lived in Missouri. I was nine then I thought all the cars looked ike hot wheels.
Diablo
Tuesday, October 3rd, 2006 @ 5:26pm
Rating: Four stars. Id barely even Heard of the city of St. Louis before seeing it here, but it seems to be a lovely city and deserves a gateway like this. Erika mentions being "up there", which sounds very brave.
erika
Thursday, January 27th, 2005 @ 5:16pm
Rating: Five stars. the structure is really cool i was upo there twice and it is so aweasome
there i really enjoyed going up there
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New York, United States
jesse
Five stars.
Daisy
Four stars.