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St. Louis & The Roaring 1920’s The Birth Of Art Deco

by Mark Bradley

St. Louis is now a busy, active metropolitan city with hundreds of thousands of residents and homes. However, it took a century for St. Louis to become the city that it is today. While the entire nation was booming in the 1920’s, St. Louis also experienced great growth and development.

The St. Louis boom began with the 1923 Bond Issue, which carried-out the Citys street patterns that were designed in 1917and the City Plan Commission. Streets such as the Market, Olive, Natural Bridge, and Gravois can thank the 1923 Bond Issue for the wide streets it has today. Once the Worlds Fair was over, St. Louis realized that it had some endeavors to take on. After observing the transformations occurring around the world, St. Louis recognized it as a sign for its own needed development.

It was following the Worlds Fair that St. Louis realized that it had some work to do. Seeing the innovations taking place around the world, St. Louis took it as a signal that it was time to do expansion itself, and thats when the 1923 Bond Issue was passed for a whopping $87,000,000; which at the time was a pretty amazing achievement. It was after this landmark that all kinds of civic buildings like hospitals, street lighting and Kiel Auditorium sprang to their glory. It was also during the 1920s that St. Louis experienced the transit revolution within its city. The transit revolution was obviously a very big deal and a great force of energy and economy for the whole city and everyone who lived there. Of course, the famous trolley car system was up and running in its heyday from 1910-1920, but the 1920s was the harbinger of more private automobiles and increased bus lines.

Another important part of the St. Louis roaring 1920’s history, is the transit revolution that occurred. It created a big rush of energy and economy for the whole city and all of its residents. Although the trolley car system was famous in its heyday from 1910-1920, the 1920s brought private automobiles and bus line expansion to the forefront for transportation.

Park improvements were another great step in the expansion and reinvention of St. Louis in the 1920s. Forest Park was completely realized after great restoration work following the worlds Fair. Until construction began on the Park, it was a wilderness land following the Worlds Fair, which left many people uneasy about the implications.

During the 1920’s boom of St. Louis came park improvements which were another wonderful step for its expansion and development. Forest Park came to fruition after a vast restoration project which followed the Worlds Fair. The Park had been a wilderness land before the prior to the restoration, which left many residents troubled about the consequences.

The St. Louis City ordinance mandated a park-like area which then triggered the Forest Park improvements. This is also when the following highlights were added to the park: the Zoo with its Worlds Fair bird cage, the Jefferson Memorial constructed on Fair funds, The Art Palace which was furnished to the city by the Exposition Company, and of course the Worlds Fair Pavilion.

There are Art Deco buildings that stimulate the imagination, and even old Spanish Mission Deco buildings like the one found in Grand Center, St. Louis, designed by Thomas P Barnett. With its rich Spanish style and unique feel, this building always turns heads.

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