The Gateway Arch is a 190-meter (623 ft) monument in St. Louis, Missouri, United States. Clad in stainless steel and built in the form of a weighted catenary arch, it is the world’s tallest arch and Missouri’s tallest accessible building. Some sources consider it the tallest man-made monument in the Western Hemisphere. Built as a monument to the westward expansion of the United States and officially dedicated to “the American people”, the Arch, commonly referred to as “The Gateway to the West”, is the centerpiece of Gateway Arch National Park and has become an internationally recognized symbol of St. Louis, as well as a popular tourist destination. The Arch was designed by Finnish-American architect Eero Saarinen in 1947; construction began on February 12, 1963, and was completed on October 28, 1965, at an overall cost of $13 million (equivalent to $82.1 million in 2018). The monument opened to the public on June 10, 1967. It is located at the site of St. Louis’s founding on the west bank of the Mississippi River. A1 Bed Bug Exterminator St. Louis
Both the width and height of the arch are 630 feet (192 m). The arch is the tallest memorial in the United States and the tallest stainless steel monument in the world. The cross-sections of the arch’s legs are equilateral triangles, narrowing from 54 feet (16 m) per side at the bases to 17 feet (5.2 m) per side at the top. Each wall consists of a stainless steel skin covering a sandwich of two carbon-steel walls with reinforced concrete in the middle from ground level to 300 feet (91 m), with carbon steel to the peak. The arch is hollow to accommodate a unique tram system that takes visitors to an observation deck at the top.
In April 1965, three million tourists were expected to visit the arch after completion; 619,763 tourists visited the top of the arch in its first year open. On January 15, 1969, a visitor from Nashville, Tennessee, became the one-millionth person to reach the observation area; the ten-millionth person ascended to the top on August 24, 1979. The Gateway Arch is one of the most visited tourist attractions in the world with over four million visitors annually, of which around one million travel to the top. The arch was listed as a National Historic Landmark on June 2, 1987, and is also listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
Restaurants and Pubs
- Sauce on the Side is located at 411 N 8th St, St. Louis, MO
- Medina Grill is located at 1327 Washington Ave, St. Louis, MO
- Shamrock Pub is located at 1131 S Broadway St, St. Louis, MO
Check out other attractions like Missouri Botanical Garden
