Gateway Arch National Park, Missouri
Gateway Arch National Park was established in 2018 to commemorate:
1) the Louisiana Purchase, and the subsequent westward movement of American explorers and pioneers;
2) the first civil government west of the Mississippi River; and
3) the debate over slavery raised by the Dred Scott case.
The national park consists of the Gateway Arch, a 630 foot tall steel catenary arch that has become the definitive icon of St. Louis; a 91-acre park along the Mississippi River on the site of the earliest buildings of the city; the Old Courthouse, a former state and federal courthouse where the Dred Scott case originated; and the 140,000 sq ft museum at the Gateway Arch.
The museum is excellent and attempts to give “both” sides of Manifest Destiny and the loss of land for Native Americans and Mexicans.
The Basilica of Saint Louis, King of France built in 1834 is also on the grounds but is not considered part of the National Park.
Should Gateway Arch be a National Park?
