Friday, August 6, 2010

Skywatch Friday - St Louis Arch

The Gateway Arch, also known as the Gateway to the West.
Last weekend on our way home from Chicago we enjoyed this view of St. Louis, Missouri and the Arch as we crossed the Mississippi River from East St. Louis, Illinois.

The Gateway Arch was built as a monument to the westward expansion of the United States, and has become the iconic image of the city of St. Louis. It was designed by Finnish-American architect Eero Saarinen and structural engineer Hannskarl Bandel in 1947. It is 630 feet (192 m) wide at its base and stands 630 feet (192 m) tall, making it the tallest monument in the United States, Construction started on February 12, 1963, and ended on October 28, 1965. The monument opened to the public on July 10, 1967.  The interior is hollow with trams on either side to take visitors to an observation area at the top.  As usual, Wikipedia has an excellent article on the Gateway Arch with good photos of the interior and the view from the top.

12 comments:

DrillerAA09 said... [Reply to comment]

I'll be going by the Arch in early September. Very nice Skywatch submittal.

T. Becque said... [Reply to comment]

Nice with those big clouds.

Lesley said... [Reply to comment]

I haven't seen the arch from this angle before. Lovely clouds overhead!

TorAa said... [Reply to comment]

Excellent taken on the Arch.
Interesting story.
Is the Arch really greater than Mount Rushmore? I did not know.
Allways something new to learn.

btw. Just posted a link to a presentation of Kongsvinger Fortress and Nordic History as you never has seen before

Anonymous said... [Reply to comment]

Love that arch & great sky background!

Great shot... Happy Sky Watch Friday!

Snowcatcher said... [Reply to comment]

I've been to the base once, but it was evening, and it had already closed, so I didn't get to go up. When I was there, the sky was overcast and drizzly, and the city lights seemed to give everything an eerie red-orange glow, including the arch.

Snowcatcher said... [Reply to comment]

Boy, it was fun to read the history of the arch, how the firefighters had to spray it so the two sides could match up! Thanks for the link!

Tracy said... [Reply to comment]

Great shot, I just lolve the "big sky"

Anonymous said... [Reply to comment]

I passed through St Louis (Greyhound trip from canada to Mexico) a few years ago and that is mostly what I saw of the city: the Arch!

michael said... [Reply to comment]

What a classic shot of the arch. Perfect.

Ryan said... [Reply to comment]

Great shot of the arch, even for someone who hasn't travelled to the US yet, you know it's St Louis. Remarkable landmark.

Yogi♪♪♪ said... [Reply to comment]

We went to Saint Louis during son's Fall break last year. The arch is very cool and you can see it from a long ways off in any direction. We took the tram to the top. There is a great visitor center at the base and quite a park.