Must See: ‘A Walk In 1875 St. Louis’ Exhibit at the Missouri History Museum

I’ve been wanting to see Missouri History Museum’s ‘A Walk In 1875 St. Louis’ exhibit since it opened in May. On Tuesday, my husband and I finally got there to see it.

One of the most amazing maps of a city ever created was Compton & Dry’s “Pictorial St. Louis,” drawn in 1875 and published in 1876. Using this incredibly detailed cartographic masterpiece as its backdrop, the Missouri History Museum developed A Walk in 1875 St. Louis, a 6,000 square-foot exhibition that explores the collective life of 1875 St. Louis through photographs, artifacts, news, writings and first hand accounts of the day.

The Museum’s exhibit staff wanted to create an exhibition that looks so closely at one single year in St. Louis’ history that people could imagine they were actually there. Compton & Dry’s ‘Pictorial St. Louis’ provides the perfect visual stage to create this immersive experience for visitors. 

My expectations were high, and the exhibit greatly exceeded them. I hope too see the free exhibit a few more times before it closes in February 2016.

I took a lot of photos, here’s four:

One wall had every page from Compton & Dry’s ‘A Pictorial St. Louis’ book assembled, reprints are sold in the gift shop.  Please take time to see exhibit before it closes on February 14, 2016.

— Steve Patterson