ROOTED HERE
Behind the downtown streets.
A whole city’s story.
St. Louis is best understood through its neighborhood business districts, brick streets and cultural institutions, not one downtown view.
People made the city.
These milestones are an introduction, not a complete local history. Follow the linked city and museum sources to explore the people and places behind them.Read the local historical account.
Watch the city’s history
FROM THE ARCHIVES
1,000 Years of St. Louis Area History in 10 minutes! (1904 Worlds Fair Footage!)
A local history film shared by This House.
Watch on YouTube ↗- 1764
St. Louis is founded
Pierre Laclède and Auguste Chouteau founded St. Louis as a fur-trading settlement in February.
City of St. Louis ↗ - 1809
Town incorporation
The Town of St. Louis was incorporated.
City of St. Louis ↗ - 1822
City incorporation
Missouri's legislature incorporated St. Louis as a city on December 9.
City of St. Louis ↗ - 1876
An independent city
St. Louis separated from St. Louis County and became an independent city.
City of St. Louis ↗ - 1904
The World's Fair and Olympics
St. Louis hosted the Louisiana Purchase Exposition and the Olympic Games.
City of St. Louis ↗
See the history for yourself.
Walk downtown to see surviving commercial architecture, then explore the Historical Preservation Society’s museum and visiting information. Check current opening dates before setting out. Historical Preservation Society.
For deeper research, the St. Louis library resources is a starting point for archival material and research help. Historic photographs have their own permissions; we link to the collection instead of treating every old image as free to reuse.
Selected milestones researched September 13, 2026. This is an introduction, not a complete account of the city’s history.