The Old St. Louis County Courthouse was built as a combination federal and state courthouse in St. Louis, Missouri. Missouri's tallest habitable building from 1864 to 1894, it is now part of Gateway Arch National Park and operated by the National Park Service for historical exhibits and events. It was designed by the firm of Lavielle and Morton, the first architecture firm west of the Mississippi River above New Orleans. The last slave auction held at the Old Courthouse took place in 1861. When St. Louis County, Missouri and the city split in 1877, the courthouse became city property. The courthouse was abandoned by the city in 1930 after it built the Civil Courts Building. In 1935, during the Great Depression, St. Louis voted for a bond issue to raze nearly 40 blocks around the courthouse in the center of St. Louis for the new Gateway Arch National Park, which was then known as Jefferson National Expansion Memorial. The courthouse formally became part of the new monument area in 1940. The National Park Service maintains four history galleries on St. Louis and NPS offices within. The courthouse building was the tallest building in Missouri and St. Louis until 1896 when Union Station was built. It remained the largest structure in the national monument until the Gateway Arch was built in 1965. In 1846 the slave Dred Scott sued for his and his wife's freedom as they had been held as slaves in free states. All of the trials, including a Missouri Supreme Court hearing, were held in the Old Courthouse. The case was ultimately decided by the U.S. Supreme Court in 1857 Dred Scott v. Sandford, which ruled against the Scotts, saying they did not have grounds as citizens to sue.—Wikipedia—This image was processed as an HDR (High Dynamic Range) composition.
Animals Always is the largest sculpture at any public zoo in the United States. It's 130 feet long, 36 feet high and 100 tons of Cor-Ten steel. The sculpture features over 60 animals peeking out from behind sculpted trees, ferns and other plant life. Many of the animals, fish and plant life depicted are also endangered to inspire future generations to protect our natural world. Created by sculptor Albert Paley, who has completed more than 50 works for both public and private institutions over his 30 year career. Other Paley pieces can be found in the permanent collections of major museums like the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, the Museum of Fine Arts in Houston, and the Victoria and Albert Museum in London. Forest Park is a public park in western St. Louis, Missouri. It is a prominent civic center and covers 1,326 acres. Opened in 1876, the park has hosted several significant events, including the Louisiana Purchase Exposition of 1904 and the 1904 Summer Olympics. It is known as the "Heart of St. Louis" and features a variety of attractions, including the St. Louis Zoo, the St. Louis Art Museum, the Missouri History Museum, and the St. Louis Science Center. Since the early 2000s, it has carried out a $100 million restoration. The park's acreage includes meadows and trees and a variety of ponds, manmade lakes, and freshwater streams. For several years, the park has been restoring prairie and wetlands areas of the park. It has reduced flooding and attracted a much greater variety of birds and wildlife, which have settled in the new natural habitats.— stlzoo.org—Wikipedia
The Jewel Box (also known as the St. Louis Floral Conservatory and the City of St. Louis Floral Display House) is a greenhouse located in Forest Park, St. Louis, Missouri. It now serves as a public horticultural facility and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. It was designed by architect William C. E. Becker and built in 1936. It consists of five stepped, composition-covered wood roofs with clerestories, rather than a regular glass roof, in order to prevent damage from frequent hailstorms. Forest Park is a public park in western St. Louis, Missouri. It is a prominent civic center and covers 1,326 acres. Opened in 1876, the park has hosted several significant events, including the Louisiana Purchase Exposition of 1904 and the 1904 Summer Olympics. It is known as the "Heart of St. Louis" and features a variety of attractions, including the St. Louis Zoo, the St. Louis Art Museum, the Missouri History Museum, and the St. Louis Science Center. Since the early 2000s, it has carried out a $100 million restoration. The park's acreage includes meadows and trees and a variety of ponds, manmade lakes, and freshwater streams. For several years, the park has been restoring prairie and wetlands areas of the park. It has reduced flooding and attracted a much greater variety of birds and wildlife, which have settled in the new natural habitats.—Wikipedia—This image was processed as an HDR (High Dynamic Range) composition.
