Travel Guides: Missouri
General Information
Named after the Missouri Native Americans that inhabited the fertile lands around the tributaries of the Mississippi and Missouri Rivers, the state of Missouri became part of the US after a long colonial tussle between France and Spain. The original Missouri people were driven out by the flood of European immigrants who came to settle here, founding the two fur trading centres of St Louis and Kansas City. The state's central location on the Mississippi River's north-south trade route and the east-west railroad made it an important crossroads. Kansas City, and St Louis in particular, established themselves as major gateways to the western frontier.
Today the state is associated with historical figures from the nation's past, such as Mark Twain and his famous stories about Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn, the gun-slinging outlaw Jesse James, western pioneers like Lewis and Clark, and the 33rd president of the United States, Harry Truman. The brown waters of the great Mississippi River and its small river towns, paddle steamers, the stockyards of Kansas City and the jazz and blues clubs of St Louis are other images representative of the state. The dominant city of St Louis is recognisable for its Gateway Arch and is the 'Home of the Blues', while the only other significant city, Kansas City is famous for its steaks and barbecues as well as its hearty jazz. In contrast, the south features the beautiful hillsides and lakes of the Ozark Mountains that are great recreational areas, and the conservative country-and-western tourist town of Branson.
Music, history, arts and heritage are all an intricate part of Missouri& 'Where the Rivers Run'.
Activities
Laumeier Sculpture Park, St Louis
The mission statement of Laumeier Sculpture Park - an open-air museum, covering 105 acres and containing over 70 outdoor sculptures dotted along a 1.4 mile (about 2.3km) walking trail - is to "expand the context of contemporary sculpture beyond the traditional confines of a museum; [and to] initiate a lifelong process of cultural awareness, to enrich lives and inspire creative thinking, by engaging people in experiences of sculpture and nature simultaneously." Visitors to the Laumeier Sculpture Park - which also boasts outdoor movies and an indoor gallery housed in an 1816 stone Tudor mansion - are unanimous in their approval of this goal, with more than 300,000 people visiting the park every year. Over and above being a wonderful picnic site, Laumeier Sculpture Park offers visitors a fresh and exciting way to engage with the plastic arts, and should not be missed.
Opening Times:
Park is open daily from 8am to sunset; Museum is open
Tuesday to Friday from 10am to 5pm, and Saturday to Sunday from
12pm to 5pm
Admission:
No admission charges to the Park or Museum Galleries,
with the exception of special events
18th and Vine District, Kansas City
In the 1920s the neighbourhood of 18th and Vine was the heart of the jazz scene and today the museum complex houses the celebrated American Jazz Museum, the Blue Room Jazz Club and the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum. The Jazz Museum honours jazz greats like Louis Armstrong and Charlie Parker and visitors can experience the rich culture and history through dozens of exhibits and an interactive studio. The fascinating history of the Negro Leagues is documented in the Baseball Museum and exhibits, video presentations and memorabilia reveal stories about baseball stars like Buck and Paige.
Opening Times:
Jazz Museum and Negro Leagues Baseball Museum:
Tuesday to Saturday from 9am to 6pm; Sunday from 12pm to 6pm. Blue
Room: Monday and Thursday from 5pm to 11pm; Friday from 5pm to 1am;
Saturday from 7pm to 1am
Admission:
Jazz Museum and Negro Leagues Baseball Museum: $8
(adults), $3 (children), $10 (for both museums). Blue Room:
standard cover charge is $10 for Friday and Saturday
performances
Forest Park, St Louis
The beautifully landscaped Forest Park is larger than New York's Central Park and its leafy grounds are filled with attractions. The acclaimed St Louis Art Museum has a magnificent international collection of art, covering works from prehistoric times to contemporary, and houses one of the most extensive collections of German Expressionism worldwide. The St Louis Science Center features life-size dinosaurs along with displays and interactive exhibits on the environment, aviation, technology and more. There is also an OMNIMAX Theatre and Planetarium. Thousands of animals roam the beautiful grounds of the St Louis Zoo, with indoor and outdoor cageless displays, and a Living World Exhibition features an animated robotic figure of Charles Darwin who summarises his theories on evolution. The Missouri History Museum documents life in St Louis with old photographs and displays on river life, black music and western expansion.
Getting There:
Metrolink to the park. Shuttle Bugs travel the parks
roadways between attractions
Opening Times:
Zoo: daily from 9am to 5pm. History Museum: daily
from 10am to 5pm (until 8pm on Tuesday). Art Museum: Tuesday to
Sunday from 10am to 5pm (until 9pm on Friday). Science Center:
Monday to Saturday from 9.30am to 4.30pm, Sunday from 11am to
4.30pm
Admission:
Grounds and museums are free. Some Zoo attractions, and
special exhibitions at the History Museum, require an admission
fee
Gateway Arch, St Louis
Within the riverside park known as the Jefferson National Expansion Memorial, the Gateway Arch is a soaring landmark above the city's skyline -the thin stainless steel arc reaches to twice the height of the Statue of Liberty at 630ft (192m). It symbolises the role of St Louis as the 'Gateway to the West' for the pioneers who journeyed along the Oregon and Santa Fe Trails towards the western frontier. It is also dedicated to the US president who was responsible for opening up the West. An observation deck that is reached by a tram system provides magnificent views over the city, the Mississippi and the spreading plains. Also on the site with the Arch is the Old Courthouse Museum that was the venue for the hearing of several momentous cases during the 19th century. At the base of the monument is the excellent Museum of Westward Expansion with exhibits covering exploration of the west and its honoured pioneers, including Lewis and Clark, the Plains Indians and buffalo soldiers. The Odyssey IMAX Theatre shows big-screen films about the region and its history.
Getting There:
Arch-Laclede's Landing Metro Stop
Opening Times:
The Old Courthouse Museum is open from 8am to 4.30pm.
The Museum of Westward Expansion is open daily from 8.20am to
9.10pm (summer), and from 9.20am to 5.10pm (winter)
Admission:
Admission to either museum is free
National World War I Museum, Kansas City
The National World War I Museum in Kansas City is America's official museum dedicated to the Great War. Housed within the Liberty Memorial, its state-of-the-art facilities provide visitors with the chance to explore the nation's most extensive assembly of WWI artefacts, photography, art and narratives ever brought together in a single collection. The museum's mission is to inspire thought, dialogue and learning, in order to make the experiences of the World War I era meaningful and relevant to present and future generations. Visitors enter the museum across a glass bridge above a field of 9,000 poppies (each one representing 1,000 war combatant deaths), and inside, the museum boasts two theatres, exhibitions with period artefacts (including a tank, uniforms, guns, maps, and photographs of major forces) in cutting edge interactive displays, an enormous research centre and a library. In the face of a barrage of fascinating audio-visual stimulation, visitors to the National World War I Museum are sure to leave having had an unforgettable experience.
Opening Times:
January 2 to May 29: Open Tuesday to Sunday, from
10am to 5pm; May 30 to September 5: Open Daily, from 10am to 5pm;
September 6 to December 31: Open Tuesday to Sunday, from 10am to
5pm
Admission:
$12 (adults), $10 (seniors 65+), $10 (students with ID);
$6 (youths 6-17)
