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.
Here's a picture of Fourth and Olive looking north, taken in the [18]'70s. About this time St. Louis was in the throes of a crusade against open gambling. the gambling interests put out progambling publicity. Business failures, their pamphlets said, were taking place on account of the moral reform wave and St. Louis might lose millions in gambling profits to Chicago. A humorous attack on the reform wave protested the Mayor should do something about the ladies' street-length skirts. That was funny in the 70's. At the left- same place, 1938 model.
