St Louis, fourth city of the "United States in size, commercial metropolis of the Mississippi valley, and principal city of the Missouri state, is on the west bank of the Mississippi River, 21 miles S. of the mouth of the Missouri, and by rail 1108 WSW. of New York, 2434 E. of San Francisco, and 696 N. of New Orleans. In 1764, Laclede, a fur-trader, established a trading-post here, which he named in honour of Louis IX. of France; in 1803 it passed from France to the United States. Poo. (1840) 16,469; (1850) 74,439; (1870) 310,864; (1900) 575,238. St Louis is built upon three gently sloping terraces, the summit of the third being 200 feet above and 4 miles W. of the river. Beyond this point for miles the country is almost perfectly level. The city has a river frontage of 19 miles; its greatest width is 7 miles. The streets in the old part of the city are narrow, but all those west of Third Street, three blocks from the river, are broad and straight. The twenty-five parks of St Louis contain 2270 acres - the largest Forest Park. The principal public buildings are the Four Courts, court-house, city hospital, insane asylum, and women's hospital, the custom-house and post-office, which cost over $5,000,000, the Merchants' Exchange, Exposition Building, the Crow Museum of Fine Arts, and the new city hall at Washington Park. The Mercantile Library Building (150,000 vols.) is a handsome structure, and so too is the new Public School Library Building (170,000). The Washington and St Louis universities, and the Christian Brothers and Concordia colleges are advanced educational institutions. Eighteen railroads enter the Union Depot (1874-92) of St Louis. The Mississippi at St Louis is spanned by two bridges - the Eads (1874, cost $6,536,730) of three spans, the central being 520 feet, and the two side spans 502 feet each; and the Merchants' Railway Bridge (1890) of steel, 2420 feet long, including approaches. Besides a vast trade in grain and cotton, packed meats, livestock, timber, wool, furs, St Louis has manufactures of tobacco, beer, boots and shoes, hardware, stoves, cars, biscuits ('crackers'), etc. See Billon, Annals of St Louis in its Early Days (1887).

St Louis

St Louis (Sang Looee'), capital of the French colony of Senegal in West Africa, on a small low island near the mouth of the Senegal River. Bridges connect it with N'dar Toute, a watering-place, on the right bank, and with Bouetville on the left bank. The river is blocked by a bar; and ocean steamers land goods and passengers at Dakar, on Cape Verde, 100 miles SW., and thence they are conveyed by rail to Bouetville. The place has a trade (gums, earthnuts, etc.) worth £1,000,000 a year. There are a cathedral, governor's palace, etc. Pop. 20,000. See also Mauritius.