Treaty Acquisition of the Louisiana Territory - 100 years - St. Louis, MO
Posted by: 
YoSam.
N 38° 38.733 W 090° 17.142
15S E 736223 N 4280939
The Jefferson Monument, now the Missouri History Museum, was the entrance to the 1904 Worlds Fair, and built as a Memorial to Jefferson and the Purchase.
Waymark Code: WMVMWE
Location: Missouri, United States
Date Posted: 05/06/2017
Views: 4
County of marker: St. Louis Independent City
Location of marker: Lindell Blvd. & DeBaliviere Ave., now the Missouri History Museum, Forest Park, St. Louis
Sculptor of statue: Karl Bitter
Architect: Isaac S. Taylor
Marker Text:
This Monument was erected in honor of
THOMAS JEFFERSON
Author of the Declaration of Independence and Third
President of the United States to Commemorate the
acquisition of the LOUISIANA TERRITORY made under his
administration. It marks the main entrance of the
universal exposition of 1904 held to celebrate the centennial
of the treaty of acquisition made April 1803 with France.
In the exposition sixty-two nations, forty-four states & six
territories participated. This memorial was authorized
in joint action of the U.S. Government, The City of St. Louis
and the Louisiana Purchase Exposition Company.This building was erected by the Louisiana Purchase Exposition with the approval of Congress and under the authority of the City of St. Louis.
David R. Francis, President
Isaac S. Taylor, Architect
Karl Bitter, Sculptor.
Presidents of the United States.
William McKinley
Theodore Roosevelt
William Taft
| Mayors of St. Louis.
Rolla Wells
Frederick H. Kriesmann
| |
Dedicated April 30, 1913 ---Accepted by Henry W. Kiel, Mayor. James Stewart & Co., builders.
History: Designed by famed sculptor Karl Bitter and sitting at the heart of the Missouri History Museum [formerly the Jefferson Memorial], this statue was originally commissioned by the Louisiana Purchase company as a lasting monument to the nation's third president. Thousands of St. Louis citizens stood within the Jefferson Memorial (Now the Missouri History Museum) loggia and on its lawn in 1913 and watched with delight as a grand parade concluded with the unveiling of Karl Bitter's marble statue of President Thomas Jefferson. The Missouri History Museum is located at Lindell Blvd. & DeBaliviere Ave., in Forest Park, St. Louis City. On April 30, 1913, the Missouri Historical Society opened its history museum in the 39,000-square-foot Beaux Arts structure. They changed the name some 60 years later.