This undated and unsigned map of the boundaries of St. Louis shows the growth of the city at different periods: 1780, 1822, 1839, 1841, 1855, 1860, and 1876.
Created by Thomas Hart Benton (1782-1858); early senator from Missouri who served six terms equaling thirty years in office.
Included are the handwritten lecture, "Progress of the Age," delivered at the St. Louis Mercantile Library Association, 1850; 1 letter from 1829; and 2 letters from 1858, one from J.B. Brant concerning Benton's health. Senator Benton was among the first of many illustrious figures to speak at the St. Louis Mercantile Library on November 14, 1850. This particular speech, presented to the Library by Senator Benton, himself, and several letters make up the Mercantile's small collection of primary materials by or concerning Thomas Hart Benton
