The population of St. Louis at the beginning of the 20th Century was over 500,000, and it was the fourth-largest city in the U.S. The city was booming with rapid infrastructure and transportation development projects.
A significant moment in the city’s history occurred in 1904 when it hosted the Louisiana Purchase Exposition in Forest Park and the western edge of the city. In conjunction with the fair, the 1904 Olympic games were also held at Washington University’s Francis Field. Over 20 million people visited the fair during its seven-month run, immortalized in the song “Meet Me in St. Louis, Louie.” St. Louis continued to industrialize throughout the early 20th Century.
Below are some historical photographs showing towns, landmarks, markets, streets, shops and everyday life of People of St. Louis in the 1900s. Vote your favorites, and don’t forget to share.
#1 Charles Meder Grocery store at the corner of Ninteenth and Dodier Streets, ca. 1900s
#2 Olive Street looking toward Sarah Street. Photograph, ca. 1910
#3 Grand Avenue Water Tower, 1915
#4 A boy on stilts stands in front of the produce stands in front of the F.J. Voepel Market, 1906
#5 Seventh Street looking north towards Locust Street, ca. 1910s
#6 Spruce Street looking toward Second Street, ca. 1900s
#7 St. Nicholas Hotel, 407 North Eighth Street (northwest corner of Eighth and Locust Streets, also known as the Victoria Building), 1905
#8 Washington Avenue looking east from Seventh Street, 1912
#9 St. Louis Public Library at 1301 Olive Street, ca. 1910
#10 U.S. Mail Carriage parked on Olive Street near Grand Avenue, 1906
#11 Delmar Boulevard from Kingshighway, 1914
#12 Lawton Street looking west to Beaumont, ca. 1910
#13 Missouri Athletic Club fire wreckage at the northwest corner of Fourth Street and Washington Avenue, 1914
#14 Mutoscope Parlor and Theatre on the northwest corner of Olive Street and Leonard Avenue, 1912
#15 Sixth Street looking south from Lucas Avenue, 1906
#16 Union Station from Eighteenth and Market Streets, 1904
#17 Washington Avenue west from Eighth Street, 1903
#18 Washington Avenue west from Ninth Street, 1903
#19 C.J. Reilly Horse Shoer shop at 308 North Leonard Avenue, 1906
#20 Colonel Frederick Dent Residence at the southwest corner of Fourth and Cerre Streets, 1915
#21 Grand Avenue and Olive Boulevard, south side, street under construction, 1907
#22 Gravois Road looking east at River des Peres, 1914
#23 Sidewalk on Olive Street looking west from Seventh Street, ca. 1900s
#24 St. Louis City Hall, ca. 1900s
#25 Street pavers at work on Compton Avenue north of Meramec, 1906
#26 Street workers using a steam roller to repair Twelfth Street between Chestnut and Pine Streets, 1910
#27 Saint Louis Riverfront, 1900
#28 Palace of Transportation at the 1904 St. Louis World’s Fair.
#29 Christmas Tree on North Tucker, 1908
#30 Urban Horse Herd Closeup, 1908
#31 The intersection of South Taylor Avenue and Manchester Avenue, 1906
#32 The intersection of North Euclid and McPherson Avenues, looking west along McPherson Avenue, 1907
#33 Fullerton Building, 1901
#34 A man peers out of the window at Cole Brothers Lightning Rod Company at 316 S. Seventh Street, ca. 1900s
#35 An empty cart for distributing beer in front of a bar on a street, ca. 1900s
#36 Broadway looking north from Keokuk Street, ca. 1900s
#37 Carr Street north of Eleventh Street, ca. 1900s
#38 Construction of North Taylor Avenue at the intersection of Florissant Avenue, 1906
#39 Group of men standing in front of the Globe Shaving Parlor at 1015 Carr Street, ca. 1910
#40 Horse-drawn cart stopped at the curb of a street in St.Louis, ca. 1900s
#41 Intersection of Sixth and Walnut Streets, 1907
#42 Market Street Grocery Company building, ca 1900s
#43 Mound City Buggy Company on east side of Broadway between Papin and Chouteau, ca. 1900s
#44 Nineteenth Street looking north from Dodier Street, 1900
#45 Nineteenth Street looking south across Morgan and Lucas Streets, ca. 1900s
#46 Northeast corner of Third Street and Lucas Avenue, ca. 1900s
#47 Pedestrians on the sidewalk near the intersection of Sixth and Locust Streets, ca. 1900s
#48 Pedestrians passing the F.W. Woolworth Company store at 413 N. Sixth Street and the Strand Theater box office, 1914
#49 Sidewalk in front of 1006 Olive Street, ca. 1900s
#50 Sidewalk on the 3500 block of Olive Street, 1907
#51 Sidewalk scene on a street in St. Louis, ca. 1900s
#52 Snow Truck and Cleaning crew on the 2800 block of Chouteau Avenue, 1909
#53 Southwest corner of Leonard Avenue and Locust Street, ca. 1900s
#54 Store front window of a liquor store on Chouteau Avenue, ca. 1900s
#55 Store front window of M.E. Croak and Company Clothier on the southeast corner of Olive and Tenth Streets, 1904
#56 Store front windows for Fellhauer Brothers (August and Martin) Saloon at 3315 Olive Street, 1907
#57 Street cleaner at work on Twelfth Street between Olive and Locust Streets, 1909
#58 Street workers and carriages on a street in St. Louis, ca. 1900s
#59 Talbot’s Hippodrome posters posted on buildings at 1123 – 1131 Market Street, ca. 1900s
#60 Third Street, looking north to Chestnut Street, ca. 1900s
#61 Trorlicht, Duncker and Renard Carpet Company on Washington Avenue east of Third Street, 1904
#62 Twelfth Street north of Market Street, 1909
#63 Two girls standing in front of Henry Heier Undertaker and Embalmer shop at 3432 Shenandoah Street, 1906
#64 Wash Street, between Eighteenth and Nineteenth Streets, ca. 1900s
#65 Washington Avenue looking east from Seventh Street, ca. 1910
#66 Washington Avenue west from Seventh Street, ca. 1900
#67 Washington Avenue west from Sixth Street, 1906
#68 Washington Street east from Tenth Street, 1905
#69 Workers using a crane to tear up the road on Chestnut Street west of Ninth Street, 1914
#70 Wrecked car parked outside of Neal O’Donnell’s Practical Horse Shoeing shop at 3148 Chouteau Avenue, 1906
#71 Broadway and Locust, southwest corner, 1909
#72 Ice, coal and wood stand in downtown St. Louis. The rear of St. Louis City Hall is visible in the background, 1909
#73 Rainy city street with street lamps visible in the foreground, 1901
#74 Five boys standing along the base of a poured concrete wall at a construction site, 1902
#75 The lagoon leading east from the grand basin at the 1904 World’s Fair in St. Louis.
#76 Sunken Garden, 1904
Government Terrace (later Government Drive) looking north all the way to the distant towers of the Palace of Varied Industries. The buildings on the left are the Palace of Mines and Metallurgy with the obelisks flanking its entrance and the Palaces of Education and Social Economy.
#77 The Hotel Jefferson looking north along Tucker Boulevard, 1908
#78 J. G. Canepa’s Bar, 1314 Market, corner of Market and Centre Streets, 1901
#79 View of Locust Street headed downhill toward 18th Street, 1907
#80 Snow removal outside Imperial Laundry, 1901.
#81 The western edge of Art Hill looking north toward the dome of Creation at the 1904 World’s Fair in St. Louis.
#82 A couple of two-hitch horse wagons, 1901
#83 Festival Hall at the 1904 World’s Fair.
#84 Olive Street in St. Louis looking east across Sixth Street, 1905
#85 Two men standing on the sidewalk of a major street. One man appears to work at the grocery they are standing in front of, 1904
#86 St. Louis Star newspaper building and Hotel Jefferson along North Tucker Boulevard, 1905
#87 People standing around a large hole in a city street. Two men in the foreground are looking down the hole, 1903
#88 The base of the Louisiana Monument at the 1904 World’s Fair in St. Louis. The monument features various statues and motifs.
#89 Drugstore window advertising “Wine of Cardui”, 1903
#90 Fleet of Ford Model T automobiles in front of St. Louis city hall, 1905
#91 The Palaces of Education and Social Economy at the 1904 World’s Fair.
#92 Rear of a railway locomotive travelling away from the camera, 1905
#93 Washington Avenue looking west. Automobiles, pedestrians, electric streetcars and horse-drawn wagons are visible, 1905
#94 The old Boatman’s Bank building in March of 1900.
#95 A pair of smokestacks, one of which is being worked on by a group of men near the top of the stack, 1908
#96 The German Pavilion at the 1904 World’s Fair in St. Louis, 1906. This pavilion was best known for its bells which could be heard from a great distance.
#97 Looking along city sidewalk with major street on one side and vacant lot on the other, 1906
#98 Herd of horses in urban neighborhood. Two men appear to be trying to corral the horses, 1906
#99 Intersection of Second Street with another street with men working in the middle of the intersection, 1907
#100 Japanese Pavilion and gardens at the 1904 World’s Fair in St. Louis, 1904
#101 Tree along South 11th Street with signs attached to it, 1904
#102 Site where house has just been demolished in the midst of an urban area, 1907
#103 The Palaces of Electricity and Machinery at the 1904 World’s Fair. The picture was taken at night from the walkway between the Grand Basin and the building.
#104 Wrecked Dorris, 1907
#105 The Jaccard Building stood at the corner of Broadway and Locust Street, at 407 N. Broadway, 1907
#106 A horse either being lowered into or lifted out of a hole in a city street, 1908
#107 Men of the Gymnastic Association Sokol in St. Louis, 1900
#108 Two Young Girls at a Construction Site on Sherry Avenue, 1905
#109 Saint Louis Art Museum, 1905
#110 Chestnut Street West From 4th Street, 1905
#111 City Street Construction, 1907
#112 Restaurant Menu Sign Board, 1904
#113 The Palace of Manufactures at the 1904 World’s Fair in St. Louis.
#114 The Sunken Garden at the 1904 World’s Far with the U.S. Government building in the background.
#115 The Festival Hall on Art Hill in Forest Park at the 1904 World’s Fair.
#116 Industrial Smokestacks, 1908
#117 Car Parked On Seventh Street, 1906
#118 Olive and 7th Street, looking east. Hanover and Regal shoes in the right foreground. Many pedestrians crossing the street, 1909
#119 Market Street Lunch Room, 1907
#120 The 1904 World’s Fair from the top of the Buffalo Tower. The view looks out over the Plaza of Orleans to the distant eastern restaurant pavilion on Art Hill.
#121 A horse either being lowered into or lifted out of a hole in a city street, 1908
#122 Alaska House and Totems, 1908
#123 An employee for the Tower Grove Dairy delivering goods to residents of St. Louis, 1900.
#124 The Palace of Machinery at the 1904 World’s Fair in St. Louis.
#125 Terminal Railroad Association train engine with tender stopped in rail yard, warehouses in the Cupples station block are visible in the background, 1909
#126 A vista looking down the lagoon at the 1904 World’s Fair.
#127 River at low level running through a neighborhood, 1906. People are in the riverbed and a shack that has fallen off its foundation is also visible along the bank.
#128 Mengel & Vogt pharmacy at Taylor and Page Avenues, 1906. A woman is standing next to a pole in front of the building. The building still exists and appears to be vacant.
#129 Streetcars on street under repair, 1909 .A modified streetcar with the cab removed is in the foreground. Men are visible in the background on the sidewalk in front of the businesses.
#130 A cobblestone cross-street fitted with a gas powered street light and a series of telephone wires, 1908
#131 Row of produce vendors along North Fourth Street, 1908. A horse-drawn carts are visible in front of the businesses.
#132 The Missouri building at the 1904 World’s Fair in St. Louis. This was a temporary structure demolished after the fair. The World’s Fair Pavilion was then built on this site.
#133 Adonis Tennis Club House, St. Louis. One of 31 photos bound in a leather stamped album, 1904
#134 The Palaces of Education and Social Economy at the 1904 World’s Fair. This image is of the buildings at night viewed from across the Grand Basin.
#135 North 7th Street showing people at work and walking along street, 1904
#136 The Palace of Liberal Arts at the 1904 World’s Fair.
#137 Team of men working in the middle of a city street during a snowstorm, 1902
#138 The Palaces of Electricity and Machinery at the 1904 World’s Fair.
#139 A Pennant Pierce Oil Corporation filling station, 1908. Three cars are visible in front. A man appears to be putting air into the tire of one of the cars.
#140 Men installing a pipe in a city street, 1908
#141 City street intersection with theater posters and building billboards visible, 1907
#142 Girl on Path, 1907
#143 Mielke’s Lunch Stand and Hotel Francis, 1906
#144 Corwin H. Spencer, 1906
The Corwin H. Spencer was originally built as the Anchor Line steamer City of Monroe at Jeffersonville, Indiana in 1887. Badly damaged by the cyclone at St. Louis on May 27, 1896 she was rebuilt into the Hill City. She was 327 feet long, 44 feet beam, and 8.5 feet depth of hold. Purchased by Captain T. B. Sims at a U. S. Marshall sale in January 1898. In 1903 again sold, converted into an excursion boat and renamed the Corwin H. Spencer. She burned just above Jefferson Barracks, Missouri on October 12, 1906.
#145 City sidewalk with wooden fence with posters plastered on it, 1907
#146 Horse-drawn wagon delivering fruit and produce to a business, 1907. Other horse-drawn wagons are visible in the street. Two girls on the sidewalk are watching the delivery.
#147 Large pit in the middle of an urban area that is filled with water, 1908.
#148 Rear of urban residential housing showing laundry drying, 1907
#149 Front of Two Urban Residences, 1907
#150 The Louisiana Monument at the 1904 World’s Fair in St. Louis. The monument was in an area called the Plaza of St. Louis, and in this picture the Palace of Manufactures can be seen in the background.
#151 Street scene of St. Louis after during or after 1904. Two women on sidewalk. Trolley car on rails in the cobblestone street. Buildings with mansard roofs.
#152 The intersection of North Broadway looking north from Market Street, 1903
#153 Construction site at railway interchange, 1903
#154 Children standing along and hanging on a rope near a construction site, 1904
#155 Washington Avenue from approximately North Tucker Boulevard, 1901.
#156 Side-wheel excursion boat Alton at port, 1909
#157 Cabin of the excursion boat Alton, 1909
#158 Side-wheel excursion boat Alton on river. Most days, this steamer ran St. Louis to Six-Mile Island on the Illinois River, 1909
#159 Automobile crossing streetcar tracks over wooden road crossing, 1909
#160 Construction taking place in Lucas Gardens Park, 1903
#161 Brazilian Pavilion at the 1904 World’s Fair in St. Louis.
#162 Unpaved road that is muddy, many ruts from carriage wheels are visible, 1902
#163 The Festival Hall at the 1904 World’s Fair viewed from the northeast looking across the lagoon.
#164 Water wagon on major St. Louis street near the intersection with Carr Street, 1903
#165 Store front of liquor store on Chouteau Avenue, 1903
#166 Latta-Hord Laundry Company, 1903
#167 The Saint Louis Mercantile Library building in downtown St. Louis at Broadway and Locust Streets, 1903
#168 Olympic Games 1904
#169 Biddle and Broadway, showing the City Market, 1908
#170 A man and two children watching construction on the Washington University Campus, 1908
#171 Construction in an Open Field, 1903
#172 Woman Standing in Front of World Fair Construction, 1904
#173 The entrances to Tower Grove Park in Saint Louis, Missouri, 1903
#174 The Second Presbyterian Church Progress, 1902
A large, empty field shows a nearly completed Second Presbyterian Church. The church's roof is still incomplete, and there are workers and cranes placing stone and holding the window frames steady. Outside of the church are several workers and materials. There are piles of material to the right of the church and small company sheds on wheels.
Delmar Boulevard from Kingshighway, 1914
It’s the Loop Trolley!!!
It has always been here, always a part of us. The loop trolly is our goddamn Pennywise.
Holy shit. That’s so good. The Loop Trolly returns every 100 years to wreak havoc on our community and then leave.
Except for the first few decades, it was good. Since we viciously destroyed our streetcar system, it’s just a ghost haunting us.
True. If anything we need more light rail. Just….not like this.