Timeline of St. Louis

Prior to 19th-century

1764 – St. Louis founded by Pierre Laclède in Louisiana, New Spain.

1780 – "Indian attack."

1799 – Population: 925.

1800s–1850s

1800 – St. Louis becomes part of French Louisiana.

1804

St. Louis becomes part of U.S. territory per Louisiana Purchase.

Post Office established.

1805 – St. Louis becomes capital of the U.S. Louisiana Territory.

1808 – Missouri Gazette newspaper begins publication.

1809

Town incorporated.

Missouri Fur Company established.

1811 – December 16: New Madrid earthquake.

1812 – St. Louis County established.

1815 – Theatre opens.

1816 – Bank of St. Louis incorporated.

1818

Saint Louis Academy founded.

Baptist Church built.

1819 – Erin Benevolent Society founded.

1820

June: Missouri constitutional convention held.

September: Missouri General Assembly convenes.

1821

St. Louis becomes part of the new U.S. state of Missouri.

City Directory begins publication.

1822

City of St. Louis incorporated.

Area of city: 385 acres.

1823 – William Carr Lane becomes mayor.

1825 – Lafayette visits town.

1826 – Catholic Diocese of St. Louis established.

1828 – County Courthouse built.

1830 – Population: 4,977.

1834

Daily Evening Herald newspaper begins publication.

Cathedral of St. Louis consecrated.

1835 – Anzeiger des Westens German-language newspaper begins publication.

1836 – Chamber of Commerce established.

1837 – Daniel Webster visits city.

1840

City boundaries expanded.

Population: 16,469.

1841

United Hebrew Congregation founded.

Area of city: 4.5 square miles.

1844 – Anti-immigration unrest.

1846

Dred Scott files lawsuit.

Mercantile Library Association established.

1847 – Boatmen's Savings Institution chartered.

1849

Concordia Seminary relocates to St. Louis.

Cholera epidemic.

Fire.

Bellefontaine Cemetery established.

1850

Third Baptist Church established.

Population: 77,860.

1851 – Bates' Theatre opens.

1852

Iron Mountain railroad built.

Bavarian Brewery in business.

1853 – Washington University founded.

1854 – Czech Slavonic Benevolent Society founded.

1856

Academy of Science founded.

St. Louis Agricultural and Mechanical Fair begins.

Grand Opera House opens.

1857

St. Louis Fire Department established.

Lindell Hotel in business.

1859

Streetcar begins operating.

Mary Institute founded.

Synagogue consecrated on Sixth Street.

1860s–1890s

1860 – Population: 160,773.

1861 – Western Sanitary Commission and Ladies Union Aid Society established.

1862 – Hoelke and Benecke photo studio in business.

1865

Public Library, Sokol sport club, and Germania Association established.

Southern Hotel and Meyer & Brother drug store in business.

1866

Cholera epidemic.

Missouri Historical Society headquartered in city.

Olympic Theatre opens.

1867 – City Board of Health and Compton Hill Reservoir Park established.

1869 – Congregation Shaare Emeth founded.

1870

Carondelet becomes part of St. Louis.

Area of city: 17.98 square miles.

Population: 310,864.

1871

1871 St. Louis tornado.

Puck German-language magazine begins publication.

1872

Maryville College of the Sacred Heart and University Club founded.

Catholic Amerika begins publication.

1873 – Laclede Gas Light Company in business.

1874 – Eads Bridge built.

1875

Merchants Exchange opens.

Brownell and Wight Car Company in business.

1876

June: City hosts 1876 Democratic National Convention.

Forest Park opens.

Busch's Budweiser beer introduced.

Area of city: 61.37 square miles.

1877

City secedes from St. Louis County.

July: 1877 St. Louis general strike.

1878 – St. Louis Post-Dispatch newspaper begins publication.

1879

Anheuser-Busch Brewing Association and J.C. Strauss photo studio in business.

Pope's Theatre opens.

1880

St. Stanislaus Kostka Church built.

Population: 350,518.

1882 – Mallinckrodt Chemical Works incorporated.

1883 – St. Louis Exposition and Music Hall opens.

1884 – St. Louis Maroons baseball team active.

1886

May 1: Labour strike.

St. Louis Watchmaking School and Congregation Temple Israel founded.

1888 – City hosts 1888 Democratic National Convention.

1889 – Missouri Botanical Garden established.

1890 – Population: 451,770.

1891

Rubicam Business School established.

Wainwright Building constructed.

American Car Company in business.

Air conditioning installed in the Ice Palace beerhall.

1892

St. Louis Browns baseball team active.

St. Louis Country Club established.

Stix Baer & Fuller (shop) in business.

National People's Party founded in St. Louis.

1894 – Union Station opens.

1896

May: 1896 St. Louis–East St. Louis tornado.

June: Flood.

City hosts 1896 Republican National Convention.

Busch's Michelob beer introduced.

1898 – Compton Hill Water Tower erected.

1900s–1970s

1900

St. Louis Streetcar Strike of 1900.

Monsanto Chemical Works in business.

Population: 575,238.

1902 – Sportsman's Park opens.

1903 – Missouri Athletic Club founded.

1904

Buckingham Hotel built.

April: St. Louis World's Fair opens; Palace of Fine Arts built.

City hosts 1904 Summer Olympics and 1904 Democratic National Convention.

1905 – May Department Store relocates to St. Louis.

1906

Racquet Club of St. Louis founded.

Statue of Louis IX of France unveiled in Forest Park.

1908

Aero Club of St. Louis incorporated.

Aeronautic Supply Company in business.

St. Louis Coliseum built.

Fairground Park established.

1909 – October: City centennial.

1910 – Population: 687,029.

1911

Urban League branch established.

Famous-Barr (shop) in business.

Benoist Flying School established.

1912

Ethical Society building constructed.

St. Louis Argus newspaper begins publication.

Missouri Peace Society founded.

1913 – Henry Kiel becomes mayor.

1914

Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis begins operating.

National Association for the Advancement of Colored People branch established.

Railway Exchange Building and Cathedral Basilica of Saint Louis constructed.

"Pageant and Masque of Saint Louis" held.

Saint Louis Zoo incorporated.

1915 – Junior League of St. Louis organized.

1917 – MacArthur Bridge opens.

1918

Poro beauty school opens.

1919

League of Women Voters of St. Louis organized.

City Hospital No. 2 begins operating.

Pine Street YMCA opens.

1920

Chase Hotel built.

Population: 772,897.

1921

WEW radio begins broadcasting.

American Association of University Women chapter active.

1925 – St. Louis Theater opens.

1926 – Southwestern Bell Building constructed.

1927

Racquet Club of St. Louis funds Lindbergh's Spirit of St. Louis airplane.

Tornado.

B.F. Mahoney Aircraft Corporation in business.

1928 – St. Louis American newspaper begins publication.

1929 – Fox Theatre opens.

1930 – Lambert-St. Louis Municipal Airport dedicated.

1931 – Rombauer's Joy of Cooking published.

1933

Firmin Desloge Hospital opens.

Anheuser-Busch's Budweiser Clydesdales established.

1935 – Neighborhood Gardens (housing) opens.

1937 – Floral Conservatory built in Forest Park.

1939

1939 St. Louis smog.

Oldani's restaurant in business.

1940 – Population: 816,048.

1942 – George Hudson Orchestra debuts.

1943 – Campbell House Museum opens.

1947 – Congress of Racial Equality chapter organized.

1948 – U.S. Supreme Court decides Shelley v. Kraemer lawsuit.

1949 – The Fairgrounds Park Riot.

1950 – Population: 856,796.

1951 – Veterans' Memorial Bridge built.

1954

KETC television begins broadcasting.

Pruitt–Igoe housing built.

1955

Peabody Coal Company relocates to St. Louis.

Hellmuth, Obata and Kassabaum architects in business.

1958 – Landmarks Association of St. Louis established.

1959 – Civil rights sit-in.

1960

Population: 750,026.

Sister city relationship established with Stuttgart, Germany.

1962 – St. Louis Community College established.

1963

MetroBus begins operating.

Planetarium opens.

1964

LaClede Town (housing) opens.

Imo's Pizza in business in Shaw.

1965

Gateway Arch erected.

Regional East-West Gateway Council of Governments established.

1966 – Busch Stadium opens.

1967

Poplar Street Bridge built.

St. Louis Blues ice hockey team formed.

1969 – Laclede Gas Building constructed.

1970

Student antiwar demonstration.

Population: 622,236.

1974

St. Louis Port Authority created.

Sister city relationship established with Suwa, Japan.

1976 – Sister city relationship established with Lyon, France.

1977

St. Louis Convention Center opens.

James F. Conway becomes mayor.

Sister city relationship established with Galway, Ireland.

1979 – Sister city relationship established with Nanjing, China.

1980s–1990s

1981 – Gwen B. Giles is the first woman and first African-American appointed to lead the St. Louis City Assessor’s Office.

1986

Express Scripts and Galleria Cinema in business.

Southwestern Bell Telephone Building constructed.

1987

Sister city relationship established with Bologna, Italy.

Lindbergh Plaza cinema in business.

1989 – One Metropolitan Square (hi-rise) built.

1990

Population: 396,685.

Sister city relationship established with Georgetown, Guyana.

1992 – Sister city relationships established with Szczecin, Poland and Samara, Russia.

1993 – MetroLink begins operating.

1994

Kiel Center arena opens.

Sister city relationship established with Saint-Louis, Senegal.

1995

St. Louis Rams football team active.

Trans World Dome (stadium) opens.

1997

City website online (approximate date).

Ameren Corporation in business.

Clarence Harmon becomes mayor.

21st-century

2000 – Population: 348,189.

2001

Pulitzer Arts Foundation museum opens.

Francis G. Slay becomes mayor.

William Lacy Clay, Jr. becomes U.S. representative for Missouri's 1st congressional district.

Veterans for Peace headquartered in St. Louis.

2002 – St. Louis Building Arts Foundation active (approximate date).

2003 – St. Louis Area Regional Response System headquartered in city.

2004 – Sister city relationship established with Bogor, Indonesia.

2006 – Busch Stadium rebuilt.

2007 – Center for Citizen Leadership headquartered in St. Louis.

2008 – Sister city relationship established with Brčko, Bosnia and Herzegovina.

2009 – Citygarden opens.

2010 – Population: 319,294; metro 2,812,896.

2011 – October: Occupy St. Louis begins.

2014

August 9: Shooting in nearby Ferguson, unrest ensues.

Musial Bridge and Center for Jazz open.

2016

Rams leave St. Louis and become the L.A. Rams once again.