Where is it?
Gateway Arch National Park is in downtown St. Louis, Missouri on the west bank of the Mississippi River. Park highlights include:
- Visitor center
- Museum
- Theater and introductory film
- Gift shop
- Cafe
- Tram rides to the top of the arch – advance reservations recommended
- Riverboat Cruises – advance reservations recommended
- Historic Old Courthouse (projected to be closed for renovations until sometime in 2023)
Link to the park’s website here.

Why is the park significant?
Gateway Arch National Park, originally the Jefferson National Expansion Memorial, commemorates the western expansion of the United States. In 1803, President Thomas Jefferson purchased the land stretching west from the Mississippi River to the Rocky Mountains and south from the border of Canada to the Gulf of Mexico. The $15 million acquisition from France became known as the Louisiana Purchase, and it doubled the size of the United States. One year later, Jefferson sent Meriwether Lewis and William Clark on a two-year expedition to explore the lands west of the Mississippi River. The expedition party, known as the Corps of Discovery, included about 45 men, most of whom were in their mid-twenties and single. Their journey began 34 miles north of present-day Gateway Arch National Park at the confluence of the Mississippi and Missouri Rivers.

The Old Courthouse
A significant portion of the park is the old St. Louis County Courthouse, now generally known as the Old Courthouse. It was there in 1847 that Dred Scott, an enslaved man, and his wife, Harriet, sued their owner, Irene Sandford, for the right to be free. The trial was dismissed on a technicality, and the case was retried in 1850. Although the Scotts were awarded their freedom in the second trial, their emancipation was short lived. In 1852, Irene Sandford appealed the case to the Missouri Supreme Court and won, making Dred, Harriet, and their children enslaved to her once more.

Scott appealed his case to the U.S. Supreme Court in 1856, but in March of 1857, he lost his quest for freedom once again. In what became known as the Dred Scott decision, Chief Justice Roger Taney wrote that all people of African descent, whether enslaved or free, had no right to sue in federal court because they were not citizens of the United States. He also stated that the Fifth Amendment protected slave owners’ rights because slaves were their legal property. The Scotts were eventually freed in 1857 by a man who had purchased them from Irene and her second husband. Sadly, Dred died of tuberculosis just sixteen months later in September of 1858.
Trivia: In an ironic twist, it was Justice Roger Taney who swore in Abraham Lincoln as President in 1861.

History of the Park
In 1935, President Franklin Roosevelt designated a 62-acre tract of land on the west bank of the Mississippi River in St. Louis for a national park site. The site would later become the Jefferson National Expansion Memorial. While workers began clearing the land to make way for the memorial, it was decided that the Old Courthouse would also become part of the park. In 1948 architect Eero Saarinen won a national competition with his design for a stainless-steel arch. Construction on the arch began in 1963, and it was completed in 1965. The north and south trams would not be completed until 1967 and 1968.

Visiting the Park
Upon entering the visitor center, visitors will find the ticket counters where they can pay the entry fee ($3.00). Tickets for the tram, riverboat cruise, and “Monument to the Dream” film, may be purchased at the same time. Advance reservations are highly recommended, however, as they frequently sell out, especially the tram to the top of the arch. Purchase tickets online and see options for package deals on all three of the paid attractions here. Visitors must pass through an airport-style security area before entering the section of the facility where the museum, cafe, trams, theater, and gift shop are located. The Old Courthouse, park grounds, riverfront trail, and museum are free for everyone to enjoy. Free parking may be found on the streets and along the riverfront near the park, however, most visitors take advantage of paid parking garages. Click here to see the park’s recommended parking options.

Ride to the Top of the Arch
The arch features a north tram and a south tram which both end up in the same place at the top of the arch. Built similarly to a Ferris wheel, tram pods have to shift with the curve of the arch in order to keep passengers upright. Each pod holds five people, and the ride to the top takes about four minutes. The floor of the observation deck arcs upward with the curve of the arch.

At the top there are sixteen windows on each side allowing views east toward the river or west toward downtown St. Louis. Visitors spend about 8 minutes at the top before reboarding their pod and taking the ride back down.


The Museum
The museum features six galleries:
- Colonial St. Louis
- Jefferson’s Vision
- Manifest Destiny
- The Riverfront Era
- New Frontiers
- Building the Arch

Note in the above photo that the last piece at the top is missing and there are contraptions attached to the incomplete arch. In order to set the last section into place, engineers had to jack the legs of the arch apart. If the measurements had been off as much as 1/64th of an inch, the final piece would not have fit. Gateway Arch is truly an amazing feat of engineering. Perhaps even more amazing is that no lives were lost during its construction.

The Missouri Fur Company was established in St. Louis in 1809 by a group of fur traders and businessmen from Missouri and Illinois. Over the next twenty years, the company’s expeditions explored the upper Missouri River and began trading with Native American tribes. With the navigable Mississippi River on its doorstep and the ability to ship furs north to trade for manufactured goods, Missouri Fur Company was instrumental in the establishment of St. Louis as an important trading center.

With Jefferson’s Louisiana Purchase and access to riverways to explore the country’s newest lands, St. Louis became known as the “gateway to the west.”

In 1817, the first steamboat arrived in St. Louis. By 1840, riverboats began rolling into St. Louis’ port daily. The city had grown into an important distribution center for imported goods from foreign countries as well as other parts of the U.S.
Riverboat Cruise
Gateway Arch National Park is home to two riverboats, the Tom Sawyer and the Becky Thatcher which were brought to the park in 1964 so interested onlookers could watch the construction of the arch. Since that time thousands of park visitors have enjoyed the boats, and it doesn’t look like Tom and Becky are going to retire anytime soon.

Basic cruises last approximately one hour, but the park offers several other options, including dinner and specialty cruises. Visitors will learn about the points of interest along St. Louis’ waterfront as well as the history of some of the interesting bridges that cross the Mississippi River near the park.


The image above shows the Martin Luther King bridge (foreground), Eads Bridge (middle) and MacArthur Bridge (back). Here are some interesting facts about the three bridges:
- Martin Luther King Bridge was named Veterans Bridge when it opened in 1951. Though after the assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr. in 1968, the name was changed to honor the slain civil rights leader.
- Historic Eads Bridge opened in 1874 as the world’s first steel arch bridge. Eads Bridge is a combined road and railroad bridge.
- Originally named St. Louis Municipal Bridge, MacArthur Bridge opened in 1917. Built as a double-deck bridge, one for automobiles and the other for trains, the bridge once carried Route 66 across the Mississippi River. Although the road deck was closed to vehicles in 1981 and eventually removed, railroads continue to use the bridge today.

Thanks so much for visiting Gateway Arch National Park with us!
While you’re here, check out these other great national parks:
Marsh-Billings-Rockefeller National Historical Park
Bryce Canyon National Park
10 Amazing Things to See and Do at Big Bend National Park
Happy, safe travels, y’all!
Mike and Kellye

As always, we strive to be as accurate with our information as possible. If we made a mistake, it was unintentional. (Hey, we’re only human!) We aren’t paid for our recommendations, and we only recommend our own tried and true vendors and venues. Our suggestions are for places that we’ve heard good things about but haven’t visited personally, and our opinions are our own.
©2022
Really fascinating history all around the arch! How sad about Dred Scott and his family to go back and forth between freedom and slavery, and then to die so soon after gaining their freedom. And then to have that same judge swear in Lincoln of all people. What a strange twist of fate. When the Gateway Arch became a national park, I was a little surprised because I felt it didn’t quite fit as a national park as a monument. But your post has convinced me. Now I’m all the more anxious to visit here 🙂
Aw, thank you, Meg.
This arch is impressive and the view at the top is incredible.
Thank you!
How unusual for the Gateway Arch to be a national park but a fascinating story and an intriguing place to visit and to ride the tram.
It was originally intended to be a type of national park, but not what we consider to be a national park in terms of wide-open spaces and breathtaking scenery. Thanks so much for reading our post, Marion!
Wow lots of exciting things to do in St Louis and this park – but there’s no doubt in our minds that riding to the top of the arch would top our list, followed by a river cruise looking back up at where we’d been.
Fascinating history! Not sure that I am up for that arch ride though 😊
I’m learning a lot about US history from your posts. Liked the look of the photo showing the river boat Era Diorama and what is a mock up of how the river front looked back in the day.
Thanks so much!
Curious indeed that this arch is a designated national park. But I like it, it’s different and the history is wonderful. You’ve captured som choice angles of the Old Courthouse, particularly the aerial view and the skyscraper reflection. The Scott family stuff is sad and makes me angry. You would be an excellent tour guide Kellye, Meet me in St Louis.
Thank you, Leighton. You would also be a fantastic tour guide. Meet me in Seim Reap.
An interesting place to find a national park! The history is really interesting as well, although for the Scotts what an awful story.
Another thorough post with so much information! I always learn something when I read your posts.
Thank you, Donna!
I didn’t know that the arch was a national park! I always see it in panoramas of the city but never know the history. Thanks for sharing!
Thank you, Lyssy!
I enjoyed reading about the Arch and the National Park. I loved looking at your beautiful photographs too
Thank you, Brenda!
Another one on my bucket list. My husband has been there but not me. Thank you for all the information, especially about buying tickets in advanced.
Very informative read! I enjoyed hearing the history and seeing all of your wonderful pictures.
Thanks so much!
It’s great how you write about these historical people Kellye
How awful for the Scotts and what about Irene! Hope she had a painful death!
Love seeing the photos of the cities as well, not all all how I imagined
Thanks, Ali. I hope Irene had a painful life and death too. I hope you get to see some of our cities someday.
Yes me too, it’s going to take lots of organisation to get to the states again
I am always interested in how this monument was built. Thanks for explaining the elevator system. The views are tremendous. When you see this arch, there is no mistaking where it is. Thanks for sharing. Allan
Thank you, Allan. If you get to visit there, they have a wonderful movie about its construction.