Streetcars and early circulation
Early circulation and development of the city of St. Louis can be attributed to streetcars. Erastus Wells, the “father of public transportation in St. Louis” and the president of the Missouri Railway Company, introduced St. Louis street railway transit in 1859. [8] The streetcars were horse-drawn (as shown in Figure 5) and the initial line began near Grand Blvd and Olive St. and ran to Normandy Dr. and then was extended to Florissant Ave. in 1878. The system influenced the beginning of city development northward of St. Louis and further development in the already evolving Kirkwood area. In 1886, cable cars replaced the horse-drawn cars but the streetcar system really boomed with the introduction of electric streetcars.
At the turn of the century, streetcars were a key contributor to expansion of the city. New neighborhoods, often called “streetcar communities” were created in most areas with nearby streetcar connections. [8] The citizens of these neighborhoods needed to get to different parts of St. Louis for their jobs and other services so the streetcar line helped move the population out of downtown and resulted in an expanding population in St. Louis County. One streetcar line, the Wellston Loop, was one of the largest streetcar transfer points in the country, serving many passengers en route to Kansas City and Chicago. Additionally, the streetcar influenced commercial development around the lines. Grand, Jefferson, and Gravois, to name a few streets, developed a large number of shops, eateries and businesses due to prospect of limitless potential customers. This resulted in larger business signs to create an advertisement that could be read from the streetcar window. [8] Streetcars continued to impact St. Louis transportation until the growth of the automobile. In 1966, the final streetcar ran in St. Louis. A light rail system would not return to St. Louis until the 1990s.
Trains and Union Station
Theodore Link was a German-born engineer who studied at the University of Heidelberg and then at L’Ecole Centrale in Paris before emigrating to America and working for railroads in several states. After he became an employee of Atlantic & Pacific Railroad, he was commissioned to build a train station in St. Louis, basing its design on a walled, medieval city in France called Carcassonne. [10] The similarities can be seen in Figures 7 and 8 below. St. Louis Union Station opened in 1894 under the ownership of the Terminal Rail Association of St. Louis. [11] The station consisted of a hotel, a restaurant, passenger waiting areas, and a ticket office as well as a remarkable 280 foot high clock tower. When it opened, it became the both largest and busiest train station in the world, servicing 22 different railroads. Its huge single-span train shed is the largest ever constructed, covering 11.5 acres, extending 140 feet high and holding 32 tracks.
Figure 7: City of Carcassonne, France. Figure 8: St. Louis Union Station, inspired by Carcassonne.
Source: Terra Galleria Photography [12] Source: Architectural Digest [13]
Source: Terra Galleria Photography [12] Source: Architectural Digest [13]
The station was expanded in 1904 to accommodate the demands of the World’s Fair held in St. Louis that year. It continued to serve as a hub for railroad transportation into the 1940s, where at its height in that decade, the station served over 100,000 passengers daily. [15] The large demand present at the station during this time period can be attributed to the still young and undeveloped airline and automobile industries. Until these industries flourished, train transportation was the quickest means of long distance transportation. However, the development of the airline industry as primary long-distance passenger travel in the 1950s and 1960s drove away train demand, especially in St. Louis due to the prominence of Lambert Airport. During this period, the costs to maintain the station and its features outweighed the revenue generated as the number of trains passing through St. Louis dropped yearly. When Amtrak took over the country’s passenger rail operations in 1971, the passenger service to St. Louis was reduced to only three trains daily and the station was put out of operation in 1978. [15]
Deemed a National Historic Landmark, St. Louis Union Station was purchased by Oppenheimer Properties in 1979 and in 1985, the station reopened after a $150 million restoration project. The project made it “the largest adaptive re-use project in the United States [15].” With the revitalization of the station, a large hotel, shopping center and restaurants were part of the new features of the station’s renovation (see Figure 10). Union Station was further renovated with the building of the St. Louis Gateway Transportation Center in 2008, a hub for Amtrak, MetroLink, Metrobus and Greyhound connections, which helped to revive some of the passenger flow seen during the first half of the 20th century. Today the station serves 14 Amtrak trains daily including: The Texas Eagle (San Antonio to Chicago through St. Louis), The Missouri River Runner (Kansas City to St. Louis), and The Lincoln Service (Chicago to St. Louis).
Figure 11: Train at Union Station in 1904. Figure 12: 1950s train departing St. Louis. Figure 13: 2011 train at Gateway Transit Center.
Source: Railroad Cars and Engines [17] Source: stlouisisapoem [18] Source: Flickriver [19]
Source: Railroad Cars and Engines [17] Source: stlouisisapoem [18] Source: Flickriver [19]
Metro transit
The St. Louis region’s transit industry was privately owned by about 15 competing firms into the 1960s. Lack of connections between the systems, coordination, or cooperation from these groups caused high fares, discouraged ridership and produced economic difficulties for not only the city but the firms as well. These issues were at the top of regional news, which prompted action from the City of St. Louis to regulate their transit situation. In 1963, Bi-State Development Agency (BSDA or simply Bi-State) purchased all of the transit facilities from the firms and took over control of the transit operations. [20]
One of the first actions the BSDA took was to relieve the demand at Lambert Airport by purchasing and reopening an old metropolitan airport in 1965 that is now known as St. Louis Downtown Airport. Several other small airports were developed in the region to help meet the growing aviation demand. The BSDA implemented wheelchair-lift equipped buses in the 1970s, making it one of the first agencies in the nation to offer such features in regular service buses. The agency thereafter became in charge of coordinating the Port of Metropolitan St. Louis, which is the country’s major port in the Inland Waterways system. [20] The national energy crisis in the late 70s and early 80s help to cause rapid increase in the number of bus passengers, but this combined with high inflation and lower amounts of federal funding strained the bus system. However, the BSDA was able to continue to progress and provide growth in the city’s transit in the 80s with projects like the Arch Parking Garage.
One of the first actions the BSDA took was to relieve the demand at Lambert Airport by purchasing and reopening an old metropolitan airport in 1965 that is now known as St. Louis Downtown Airport. Several other small airports were developed in the region to help meet the growing aviation demand. The BSDA implemented wheelchair-lift equipped buses in the 1970s, making it one of the first agencies in the nation to offer such features in regular service buses. The agency thereafter became in charge of coordinating the Port of Metropolitan St. Louis, which is the country’s major port in the Inland Waterways system. [20] The national energy crisis in the late 70s and early 80s help to cause rapid increase in the number of bus passengers, but this combined with high inflation and lower amounts of federal funding strained the bus system. However, the BSDA was able to continue to progress and provide growth in the city’s transit in the 80s with projects like the Arch Parking Garage.
The East-West Gateway Coordinating Council (the region’s planning organization) saw a need to improve the current transit system at the end of the 80s and decided on developing a light rail system. In 1990, construction of the MetroLink (pictured left) began and the track design took advantage of railroad land that could be expanded, unused rail deck on bridges, and tunnels in the business district to serve a large portion of the city. [20] The line opened in 1993 and within a month, over a million people had travelled on the MetroLink. Service was expanded to Lambert Airport the following year and to the East Terminal of the Airport when it was opened in 1998. The MetroLink was a huge success and has substantially contributed to over $2 billion in economic development in the areas near the system line. [20] Despite the lack of federal funding and financial hardships that characterized the BSDA during the 2000s, the MetroLink was still able to further expand eastward into Illinois and to the west into mid-St. Louis County. Today the MetroLink continues to attract a large amount of riders and provide St. Louis with important connections between Lambert Airport, the baseball stadium, the football stadium, Union Station (Amtrak), and many parts of the St. Louis area.
References:
[8] "Erastmus Wells: The Father of St. Louis Mass Transit - and of Wellston." The Wellston Loop. Last modified 2014. Accessed August 31, 2014. http://www.thewellstonloop.com/erastus-wells.
[9] "Look Back: St. Louis' streetcar demise." stltoday.com. Accessed August 31, 2014. http://stltoday.mycapture.com/mycapture/enlarge.asp?image=29456726&event=1002670&CategoryID=1731.
[10] Amtrak. "St. Louis, MO (STL)." The Great American Stations. Last modified 2014. Accessed August 18, 2014. http://www.greatamericanstations.com/Stations/STL.
[11] "Union Station Hotel, A Historic Legend." St. Louis Union Station Hotel. Accessed August 31, 2014. http://www.stlunionstationhotel.com/history.htm.
[12] "Carcassonne, France - Fortified City." Terra Galleria Photography. Accessed August 30, 2014. http://www.terragalleria.com/europe/france/carcassonne/picture.fran41532.html.
[13] Architectural Digest. Accessed September 1, 2014. http://www.architecturaldigest.com/blogs/architects-eye/2014/06/st-louis-architecture-slideshow_slideshow_item13_14.
[14] Trainz Discussion Forum (blog). Entry posted April 28, 2014. Accessed September 1, 2014. https://cdn2.gbot.me/photos/as/Me/1284741643/Union_Station-St__Louis_Union_Station-3000000042442-500x375.jpg.
[15] "The Grandest Station in the Nation." St. Louis Union Station. Accessed August 18, 2014. http://www.stlouisunionstation.com/info/history.
[16] stltoday.com. Accessed August 31, 2014. http://bloximages.newyork1.vip.townnews.com/stltoday.com/content/tncms/assets/v3/editorial/6/39/6391f32c-6894-5f1a-aed9-9d0d7db72ebd/4fe2285ba3b4d.preview-620.jpg.
[17] "Railroad Cars and Engines." Pinterest. Accessed August 31, 2014. http://www.pinterest.com/pin/6825836909221793/.
[18] "stlouisisapoem." WordPress.com. Accessed August 31, 2014. http://stlouisisapoem.files.wordpress.com/2012/07/illinois-central.jpg.
[19] "St. Louis MO (Amtrak)." Flickriver. Accessed August 31, 2014. http://www.flickriver.com/groups/stlouis_missouri___amtrak_/pool/interesting/.
[20] Bi-State Development Agency. "'History.'" Metro Transit- St. Louis. Last modified 2014. Accessed August 18, 2014. http://www.metrostlouis.org/About/History.aspx.
[21] "City Transportation Information." The City of St. Louis Missouri. Accessed August 18, 2014. https://www.stlouis-mo.gov/live-work/transportation-information.cfm.
[22] "Maps." Explore St. Louis. Accessed August 18, 2014. http://explorestlouis.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/Downtown-St.-Louis-1-28-14.pdf.
[8] "Erastmus Wells: The Father of St. Louis Mass Transit - and of Wellston." The Wellston Loop. Last modified 2014. Accessed August 31, 2014. http://www.thewellstonloop.com/erastus-wells.
[9] "Look Back: St. Louis' streetcar demise." stltoday.com. Accessed August 31, 2014. http://stltoday.mycapture.com/mycapture/enlarge.asp?image=29456726&event=1002670&CategoryID=1731.
[10] Amtrak. "St. Louis, MO (STL)." The Great American Stations. Last modified 2014. Accessed August 18, 2014. http://www.greatamericanstations.com/Stations/STL.
[11] "Union Station Hotel, A Historic Legend." St. Louis Union Station Hotel. Accessed August 31, 2014. http://www.stlunionstationhotel.com/history.htm.
[12] "Carcassonne, France - Fortified City." Terra Galleria Photography. Accessed August 30, 2014. http://www.terragalleria.com/europe/france/carcassonne/picture.fran41532.html.
[13] Architectural Digest. Accessed September 1, 2014. http://www.architecturaldigest.com/blogs/architects-eye/2014/06/st-louis-architecture-slideshow_slideshow_item13_14.
[14] Trainz Discussion Forum (blog). Entry posted April 28, 2014. Accessed September 1, 2014. https://cdn2.gbot.me/photos/as/Me/1284741643/Union_Station-St__Louis_Union_Station-3000000042442-500x375.jpg.
[15] "The Grandest Station in the Nation." St. Louis Union Station. Accessed August 18, 2014. http://www.stlouisunionstation.com/info/history.
[16] stltoday.com. Accessed August 31, 2014. http://bloximages.newyork1.vip.townnews.com/stltoday.com/content/tncms/assets/v3/editorial/6/39/6391f32c-6894-5f1a-aed9-9d0d7db72ebd/4fe2285ba3b4d.preview-620.jpg.
[17] "Railroad Cars and Engines." Pinterest. Accessed August 31, 2014. http://www.pinterest.com/pin/6825836909221793/.
[18] "stlouisisapoem." WordPress.com. Accessed August 31, 2014. http://stlouisisapoem.files.wordpress.com/2012/07/illinois-central.jpg.
[19] "St. Louis MO (Amtrak)." Flickriver. Accessed August 31, 2014. http://www.flickriver.com/groups/stlouis_missouri___amtrak_/pool/interesting/.
[20] Bi-State Development Agency. "'History.'" Metro Transit- St. Louis. Last modified 2014. Accessed August 18, 2014. http://www.metrostlouis.org/About/History.aspx.
[21] "City Transportation Information." The City of St. Louis Missouri. Accessed August 18, 2014. https://www.stlouis-mo.gov/live-work/transportation-information.cfm.
[22] "Maps." Explore St. Louis. Accessed August 18, 2014. http://explorestlouis.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/Downtown-St.-Louis-1-28-14.pdf.