M 



h 



THE GEOWTH OP ST. LOUIS. 5 



at carrying the secession ordinance, and thus kept Missouri 

 witliin the Union . The State, however, being a border State, 

 was swept oyer and over again by the contending armies ; so 

 fiercely, indeed, did the passions of civil strife rage in the 

 breast of the Missonrians, that where one party held pos- 

 session of a district, none of the opposite faction could live 

 therein, all had to leave and seek homes elsewhere. "With 

 the country in such a condition for at least the fii'st two- 

 thirds of the war, complete stagnation of trade, and some- 

 thing nearly resembling a state of siege, existed in the city. 

 Yet, notwithstanding this, scarcely a mercantile house of any 

 note ''fell through," and nearly all the merchants were able 

 to resume business on their former firm basis immediately 

 after the war had ceased. 



The following table shows the gradual growth in population 



of St. Louis : — 



^ 





% 



Ab a 



. trading-post. 



As a 



commercial c«ntre. 



A.I>. 



1 



A.D. 





1764 



120 



1830 



0,852 



1Y80 



687 



1840 



16,469 



1799 



925 



1850 



74,439 



1811 



1,400 



1859 



185,587 



1820 



4,928 



1866 



204,327 



¥ 





1867 



220, 000 



What shall we say of the present city ? The traveller from 

 the east finds himself at homo dii-ectly; he knows almost 

 where every house is situated, and can go straight to his des- 

 tination without asking the way ; for the streets, which run 

 parallel to the river, are all named, as in Philadelphia, 1st, 

 2iid, 3rd, &c,, fi-om the quay inland; while the familiar 

 names of Chestnut, Walnut, Spruce, and Pine meet him at 

 every corner, since these avenues (also according to Phila- 

 delphian rule) cut the numbered streets at right angles. 

 There are no natural limits to the expansion of the city. 



