Attraction
Some of the major attractions in St. Louis include the Missouri Botanical Garden -- commonly known as Shaw’s Garden after the organization’s founder, The St. Louis Art Museum, The Missouri Historical Society’s Missouri History Museum built around the Jefferson Memorial Building on the site of the main entrance to the 1904 World’s Fair, The Muny Opera, and the St. Louis Zoo. The Zoo, the Gardens, and both museums are largely subsidized by the St. Louis Zoo-Museum Tax District. As a condition of this support, the museums and the zoo offer free admission, though they may charge a small fee for special exhibits, and the Garden is much more affordable than many comparable facilities in other parts of the United States. The museums, the zoo, and the Muny are located in Forest Park, one of America’s largest urban parks. The Missouri Botanical Garden, further south, is the centerpiece of a lovely old neighborhood that grew up around it in the nineteenth century. The Missouri Historical Society collections and exhibits specialize in St. Louis history, Missouri history and, more generally, the western expansion of the United States. They also are the primary repository of documents and artifacts pertaining to the life of famed aviator Charles Lindbergh. Their Library and Research Center on Skinker Avenue, across the street from the western edge of Forest Park, and just to the south of Washington University, is a marvelous source for genealogical and historic research, with extensive collections both of scholarly books, and original sources that the line between research document and artifact. The curatorial and research staff of this facility are in large measure responsible for the Lewis and Clark exhibit currently touring museums in the western U.S.