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Public
Landing

Block 7A
Block 7B
Block 7C
Block 7D

Home > Circa 1804 > St. Louis: City Along The River > Block 7E
 


Laclede Landing at the present site of St. Louis. From "Epoch-Marking Events of American|
History," Anheuser-Busch, 1914. Color halftone after O.E. Berninghaus, 1914.
Color halftone courtesy of Missouri Historical Society

[Block 7E] Riverfront at Market Street:

St. Louis was founded where it was in 1764 because of the limestone bluffs along the river, which today underlie the city. The bluffs were a natural setting for the town, which raised it above the potential flooding of the Mississippi. A ravine led from the river up to the top of the bluff at the point where today's Market Street runs. Called La Rue de la Place by the French inhabitants, Market Street provided the main access between the town and the river. It was for this reason that the landing place for boats was located here.
Mackinaw or Cordelle Boat, 1785. Ink on paper by Clarence Hoblitzelle
1897. Acc. #1897.22.2.
Missouri Historical Society Art Collection

A ferry to the Illinois shore, composed of two pirogues (dugout canoes) lashed together with planks laid across the top, was run by Calvin Adams. It was in this locality that St. Louis' founders, Pierre Laclede and Auguste Chouteau, first came ashore to set up their fur trading post. It was here that Capt. Amos Stoddard and Meriwether Lewis landed on March 9, 1804, before walking to the Spanish Government House to receive the transfer of the Upper Louisiana Territory from Spain (see Block 6). And it was here that the dugout canoes of Lewis and Clark pulled to shore on September 23, 1806, ending their epic expedition to the West. Today, the towering, 630 foot Gateway Arch soars above this spot, reminding visitors of St. Louis' important role in the westward expansion of the United States.

This view is taken looking northward from the levee near the site of the original St. Louis Landing at the foot of Market Street. It was here that Laclede and Chouteau landed to found St. Louis in 1764, and where Lewis and Clark returned from their Voyage of Discovery in 1806. The "Overlook Stage" in the foreground displays the flags of the United States, the State of Missouri, and the City of St. Louis. The dark bridge in the background is the 1874 Eads Bridge, while beyond it is the tan colored Martin Luther King, Jr. Bridge.