St. Louis on a Busy Day- in 1870. You may not believe it, but this was the way Fourth and Chestnut looked to the country gentlemen who drove into town in their buggies and contemplated a trip to Louisville over the "Vandalia Route,"... street car going in the opposite direction.
St. Louis Then and Now: The photo at left was taken at Fourth and Chestnut streets in 1870, six years before the city divorced the County on grounds of incompatibility and non-support. In that horse-drawn era, St. Louisans did not foresee the tremendous growth and development of city (right photo) and choked off future expansion by voting to go it alone.
A Bustling St. Louis in 1870 became fourth largest city in the nation, according to the census of that year. The race with Chicago was hot and St. Louis still clung to ideas of becoming the dominant city of the Midwest and possibly the nation's capital. But 10 years later Chicago forged ahead and St. Louis subsequently was passed by five other cities.
