LOCAL AND STATE GEOGRAPHY

 

The University of Missouri-St. Louis (UMSL) was established in 1963 and is an urban university located in St. Louis County.  The nearest neighborhoods are Bel-Nor and Bellerive, and Normandy, quaint neighborhoods which feature brick homes with old growth trees.  UMSL began as a part of the Normandy school district to serve urban college students on ground which was purchased from the historic Bellerive Country Club. The College of Education, where students did the sketch maps, is located on the south campus on land purchased from the Daughters of Charity[1], Marillac College, and other Catholic entities.  For additional information on UMSL’s purchase of Marillac College and other Catholic educational buildings, see the article at the end of this document[2]

 

 UMSL is located near the Lambert-St. Louis airport and planes are frequently heard overhead, which interrupt classes at times.  Boeing is located nearby (formerly McDonnell Douglas) and fighter jets occasionally fly overhead.  There are currently 16,000 students and 900 faculty; UMSL is considered the second largest college in the University of Missouri system, and has the largest teacher’s college in the state. 

 

St. Louis was originally occupied by Mississippian Indians, later populated by the Osage Indians, and later formally founded by French settlers. The eastern boundary of the city of St. Louis and state of Missouri is the Mississippi River.  The confluence of the Mississippi and Missouri Rivers are here. St. Louis had sometimes been called the “Mound City” due to Native American mounds located in the region.  (St. Louis is close to “Cahokia Mounds” in Illinois, which is a world heritage site recognizing the largest Mississippian Indian community in North America).  St. Louis was named after King Louis IX, 1214-1270, and is located in the original Louisiana Purchase territory (of 1803).  La Salle named Louisiana after King Louis XIV of France, another king to remember. 

 

The metro area is the 18^th largest in the U.S. and had a population of 2,764,054 as of 2004.  Famous St. Louisans include Eugene Field, William Clark, William T. Sherman, U.S. Grant, Tennessee Williams, T. S. Eliot, Scott Joplin, Stan Musial, Sheryl Crow, John Goodman, Brad Pitt, Nelly, Maya Angelou, Chuck Berry, and Phyllis Diller.  Mark Twain, known and loved worldwide, was from Missouri and featured Mississippi river life in his work.  The 1904 world’s fair was held in St. Louis, as were part of the original world Olympic Games that same year.

 

The National Park Service’s Jefferson National Expansion Memorial contains a waterfront park and museum, downtown, that includes the Arch which is 630 feet tall and 630 feet wide.  The Gateway Arch, built in 1965, has a tram ride to the top and a large museum at the base which highlights stories and themes of westward expansion.  St. Louis is known as the “Gateway to the West”, which is reflected by the Gateway Arch.  Part of the National Park is the Old Court House.  The Dred Scott case was tried in the Old Court House, which became one of five significant causes of the U.S. Civil War.  St. Louis is home world headquarters of Anheuser Busch and Monsanto Corporation, as well as World Series 2006 champions the St. Louis Cardinals.

 

Missouri became the 24^th state in 1821. Meriwether Lewis and William Clark led their expedition through Missouri in 1803 and returned in 1806. Missouri has 5 physiological Regions, containing the Dissected Till Plains, Osage Plains, Ozarks Plateau (The “Ozarks”), Southeastern Lowlands (The “Bootheel”), and St. Francois Mountains.  The capital of Missouri is Jefferson City, located on the Missouri River in the center of the state.  An endangered river animal of interest to students is the Hellbender, the largest salamander in North America.