About Saint Louis

Founded in August of 1764, St. Louis metropolitan area includes the city as well as nearby areas in Missouri and Illinois; with a population of 2,905,893, it is the largest in Missouri and one of the largest in the United States. St. Louis was founded in 1764 by Pierre Laclède and Auguste Chouteau and named after Louis IX of France. Claimed first by the French, who settled mostly east of the Mississippi River, the region in which the city stands was ceded to Spain following France's defeat in the Seven Years' War. Its territory east of the Mississippi was ceded to the Kingdom of Great Britain, the victor. The area of present-day Missouri was part ofSpanish Louisiana from 1762 until 1803. Afterwords, the United States acquired this territory in the Louisiana Purchase.

St. Louis developed as a major port on the Mississippi River. In the late 19th century, St. Louis was ranked as the fourth-largest city in the United States. It separated from St. Louis County in 1877, becoming an independent city and limiting its political boundaries.