The Jefferson National Expansion Memorial is in St. Louis, Missouri, near the starting point of the Lewis and Clark Expedition. It was designated as a National Memorial by Executive Order 7523, on December 21, 1935, and is maintained by the National Park Service (NPS).
The park was established to commemorate:
- the Louisiana Purchase, and the subsequent westward movement of American explorers and pioneers;
- the first civil government west of the Mississippi River;
- the debate over slavery raised by the Dred Scott case.
The memorial consists of a 91-acre (36.8 ha) park along the Mississippi River on the site of the earliest buildings of St. Louis; the Old Courthouse, a former state and federal courthouse that saw the origins of the Dred Scott case; the 45,000 sq ft (4,200 m2) Museum of Westward Expansion; and most notably, the Gateway Arch, an inverted steel catenary arch that has become the definitive icon of the city.
Read more about Jefferson National Expansion Memorial: Additional Photographs
Famous quotes containing the words jefferson, national, expansion and/or memorial:
“If your letters are as long as the bible, they will appear short to me. Only let them be brim full of affection.”
—Thomas Jefferson (1743–1826)
“Prestige is the shadow of money and power. Where these are, there it is. Like the national market for soap or automobiles and the enlarged arena of federal power, the national cash-in area for prestige has grown, slowly being consolidated into a truly national system.”
—C. Wright Mills (1916–1962)
“We are caught up Mr. Perry on a great wave whether we will or no, a great wave of expansion and progress. All these mechanical inventions—telephones, electricity, steel bridges, horseless vehicles—they are all leading somewhere. It’s up to us to be on the inside in the forefront of progress.”
—John Dos Passos (1896–1970)
“When I received this [coronation] ring I solemnly bound myself in marriage to the realm; and it will be quite sufficient for the memorial of my name and for my glory, if, when I die, an inscription be engraved on a marble tomb, saying, “Here lieth Elizabeth, which reigned a virgin, and died a virgin.””
—Elizabeth I (1533–1603)