It’s always amazing to look back at time that’s passed and see the difference years make in a city. Everything changes so quickly and we get so wrapped up in the day to day grind we don’t even notice. Here are 18 then and now photos in St. Louis that show just how much our beautiful city has changed over the years:
1. (Before) The Old Courthouse In Downtown St. Louis is 1865. Trees and horse drawn carriages, were replaced with ...
3. (Busch I) First there was Sportsman's Park. It was the Cardinals' original stadium. In 1953, Anheuser-Busch Brewery purchased the Cardinals and also Sportsman's Park from the Browns and it was renamed Busch Stadium.
6. (The Perfecto's 1899) This was the only year the Cardinals were called the Perfecto's. The team had been bought and the new owners changed the color to red and the name to Perfectos. They also changed the ballpark name to League Park. Sports fans and reporters started referring to the Perfecto's by the shade of red Cardinal. The very next season their name was officially changed to the Cardinals.
9. The original elephant house at the St. Louis Zoo. The zoo purchased its first elephant, Miss Jim in 1916. It was made possible by the school children, who donated their pennies to the zoo for the elephant.
15. (Before) This is one of my favorites! They are actually having a "dance off" in front of St. Louis City hall in November of 1925. Yep, that's the Charleston! What a great photo!
17. (Before) Eads Bridge was built in 1874 and was supposed to be tornado proof. Piers were sunk almost 100 ft. under the river surface. Thirteen men died during this process and two were paralyzed. They died as a result of the bends. The workers were swimming down and shoveling sand into a pump that shot it out of the river.
18. (After) In 1886 one of the worst tornadoes in history tore down the Eads Bridge. It was an E4 tornado that killed 255 people and injured over a thousand more.
