Freedom's Memorial statue, dedicated 1876, funded by William Greenleaf Eliot's Western Sanitary Commission with Charlotte Scott's "foundation $5"
St. Louis and Missouri are gearing up for the 150th anniversary of the Civil War fighting. Walk the battlefields, explore the waterfront, visit the cemeteries, the art galleries, the sites and ruins that reflect Civil War history.
Below I list locales connected to The Great Heart of the Republic, starting at a distance from St. Louis and working my way to the Arch grounds. If you have suggestions of places to be included, please contact me.
Austria
Börnsteingasse, Vienna, a small street named for Henry Boernstein (Heinrich Börnstein), longtime radical editor of the Anzeiger des Westens
Mexico
Carlota, Veracruz, failed colony of ex-Confederates including Sterling Price, invited by Emperor Maximilian to Mexico
Washington, D.C.
Freedom’s Memorial in Lincoln Park, a controversial image of emancipation funded by William Greenleaf Eliot’s Western Sanitary Commission
African American Civil War Memorial, dedicated to those who joined the U.S. Army and Navy, including Missouri regiments
New York
Carl Schurz Park, named for the Liberal Republican politician influential in St. Louis and New York
Carl Schurz Park, Manhattan's East Side
The Puck Building, home of Joseph Keppler’s satiric magazines, after St. Louis
Metropolitan Museum of Art, home of Emmanuel Leutze’s Washington Crossing the Delaware
Colorado
Bent’s Fort, key stop along the Santa Fe Trail and an outfitting point for fur traders established by St. Louisans
The Fort, a Bent’s Fort replica and center for period-themed food, clothing, and celebrations
Texas
Palmito Ranch battlefield, site of the last Civil War battle and the founding discussions by Missouri US Colored Troops about Lincoln University
Kansas
State of Kansas Department of Tourism – Civil War activities
Free State Hotel (another hotel building on the site)
Iowa and Illinois
Cahokia Mounds State Park, site of the original Midwestern metropolis, within sight of St. Louis.
Iowa Civil War Sesquicentennial website
Illinois Civil War Sesquicentennial website
Cahokia, the original Midwest metropolis
Brooklyn, Illinois, St. Louis’s companion African American settlement
Rock Island Bridge, first rail bridge over the Mississippi River
Missouri
Official State of Missouri Civil War Sesquicentennial Tourism website – now updated regularly!
Missouri’s Civil War, a tourism and heritage site
Missouri’s Civil War, highlighting Civil War battlefields including Pilot Knob, Boonville, and Lexington
Lincoln University of Missouri, the nation’s first lasting memorial to the assassinated President, funded by U.S. Colored Troops
Hannibal, hometown of Samuel Langhorne Clemens (Mark Twain)
Gasconade Bridge, site of the 1855 Pacific Rail Road disaster
St. Louis
Freedom’s Gateway: St. Louis in the Civil War sesquicentennial website
Model for the Lincoln University statue by Ed Dwight, Soldier’s Memorial, 2007 (now completed)
Missouri Civil War Museum at Jefferson Barracks, still in development
Jefferson National Expansion Memorial: The Gateway Arch, site of the 1849 Great Fire
Jefferson National Expansion Memorial: St. Louis Old Courthouse, site of Dred and Harriet Scott’s petition, Carl Wimar’s murals, and more
Eads Bridge, first rail bridge over the Mississippi River at St. Louis
Robert Campbell House Museum, period house from prominent St. Louis fur trader
Sugarloaf Mound, the last remaining American Indian mound in St. Louis
St. Louis University campus, site of Camp Jackson
St. Louis Mercantile Library, established 1846, and a treasure trove of St. Louis history
Grave marker for Dred Scott, Calvary Cemetery
Bellefontaine and Calvary cemeteries, final resting place of many Civil War St. Louisans.
Greenwood Cemetery, final resting place of Harriet Scott and other African American Civil War St. Louisans
Nathaniel Lyon Park, site of the St. Louis Arsenal
Lafayette Park, home of the Harriet Hosmer statue of Thomas Hart Benton
Forest Park, established with the city-country boundary; Samuel Tilden and Democratic National Convention delegates attend dedication; statues of Frank Blair and Edward Bates, among others.
St. Louis Art Museum, home of iconic George Caleb Bingham paintings
Missouri History Museum, home of many period artifacts and tremendous research opportunities
For St. Louis sites, be sure to see The Civil War in St. Louis: A Guided Tour, with tours of many of these locales.
