The Gateway Arch - The Gateway to the West

Where the American West begins geographically can be debated - some think of Kansas, Texas, and the Southwestern United States, some view Kansas City as the eastern edge of the Old West, and some American historians consider anything west of the original 13 colonies as the American West.  One thing is for certain:  westward expansion was not possible without the Louisiana Purchase and the City of Saint Louis acting as a geographic and economic anchor for our nation's rapid growth through the 19th century.

The Jefferson National Expansion Memorial is Missouri's only national memorial of the National Park Service.  The centerpiece of the memorial is the Gateway Arch, also known as the Gateway to the West, which reflects Saint Louis's role in our nation's history: the Louisiana Purchase and subsequent westward movement and the first civil government west of the Mississippi River.  The Arch has become indelibly linked with our fair city - an iconic image that every American can immediately recognize.

Here are some of my own favorite photos of this venerable landmark:

The city of Saint Louis on a gloriously sunny morning.

Another view of the Gateway Arch and the Jefferson National Expansion Memorial from the Eads Bridge.

One of my favorite photos of the Arch.  Many mistakenly refer to the Arch's shape as a 'parabola', when it is in fact a 'catenary'.  The difference between these curves can be seen in their equations:

parabola (in its simplest form):

catenary (defined by the hyperbolic cosine):  

When graphed the parabola and catenary look rather similar, but the catenary is more flat as it approaches the vertex.  The catenary curve was chosen over a parabola for two reasons: 1) it better reflected architect Eero Saarinen's trademark sweeping designs, and 2) the shape of the catenary directs the force of it's own weight onto itself, making it a very sturdy and strong structure.

The Arch reflected on one of the ponds at the park grounds.

A view of downtown Saint Louis from atop the Compton Hill Water Tower.

The Arch as seen from atop Monks Mound at Cahokia Mounds State Historic Site near Collinsville, Illinois.

It is always impressive to see the Arch from a distance, which is easy given that it is 630 feet tall and 630 feet wide at the base, making it the tallest monument in the United States.

Water intake station in the Mississippi River, upstream from Saint Louis.  You can see the Gateway Arch proudly standing guard to the city in the background.

A view from the Carondelet neighborhood of south Saint Louis city.

And one last shot - a view from the "Bottle District", located just north of downtown Saint Louis.