Other parks are Northern park (180 acres), 'Aden park (60 acres), Carondelet park, etc. The two eemeteries, Bellefontaine and Calvary, both in the n. part of the city, are beau tifully laid out and decorated with trees and shrubbery.
The general style of architecture in the city is substantial rather than ornamental, although of late a lighter and mere artistic order has come into vogue for the resi dences of the wealthy. One of the finest public buildings is the court house, occupying the square between Chestnut and Market and 4th and 5th streets, a massive limestone building with columned porticoes, 'surmounted by a huge' iron dome, in which are the five county court rooms, the supreme court room, the law library, and the offices of the various county officials. The criminal business of the is transacted in the four courts, if Clark ave., the criminal courts, the jail, and the police headquarters, being all within its precincts. The new custom house and post-office, on Eighth street, an immense structure of red and gray granite, not yet completed, will be one of the finest public buildings in the United States. The entire cost will probably exceed $5,000,000. The chamber of commerce, in Third street, a solid building of gray limestone; the Col umbia life insurance building, constructed of rose-red granite in florid architecture, the masonic temple, with its richly decorated interiors, and the mercantile library building with its collection of over 50,000 vols., are noteworthy structures. There are 162 churches,. as follows: 38 Romatt.Catholic, 23 Presbyterian, 23 Methodist (of which 4 are colored), 22 German Evangelical, 16 Baptist (6 colored), 15 Episcopal (1 colored), 4 Hebrew, 4 Congregational, 3 Christian, 2 New Jerusalem, 2 Unitarian, 2 Independent, 1 Friends' meeting-house, and 8 miscellaneous. Of these the finest are the Roman Catholic cathe dral, with its Doric portico, its front of polished free-stone and its lofty spire containing a fine chime of bells; Christ church (Episcopal), of stone in the Gothic cathedral style; St Georkes (Episcopal) a rather plainer structure; the in Lucas place, an elaborate and ornate building of the English Gothic order, whose spire is remarkable for its graceful elegance; and the Jewish temple, corner of 17th and Pine. Other fine buildings are the church of the Messiah (Unitarian), the Second Presbyterian; St. Alphonsus and Sts. Peter and Paul (both Roman Catholic); the Union church (Meth odist); the Congregational church in Locust street, and the Presbyterian churches in Pine and Walnut streets. St. Louis is remarkable for the number of its charitable insti tutions many of which are under denominational charge. Thus the deaf and dumb asylum in Christy avenue, the St. Louis hospital in Montgomery street, the convent of the Good Shepherd for the reformation of fallen women, and many minor charities, are controlled by the Roman Catholic religious orders; St. Luke's hospital is under the direction of the Protestant Episcopal sisterhood of the Good Shepherd. The Emigrants' home and the Widows and Infants' asylum were endowed by private individuals. The county insane asylum on the Arsenal road is i. large brick and stone building with ele gant grounds. The institution for the blind, under the control of the state, has facili ties for 200 pupils, who are taught various industries. Many of the educational institu tions also arc under sectarian administration, the Roman Catholics alone having about 100 parochial, private and conventual schools. The principal of these are the college of
the Christian Brothers, the academies of Loretto, the Sacred Heart, and the Visitation, the Ursuline convent, and the St. Louis university. The latter, founded in 1829, chartered in 1832, is the oldest educational establishment in the city. It has a valuable museum and library, and complete apparatus for the study of the natural sciences. There are about 350 pupils. The Concordia college (German Lutheran) which includes a theo logical academy was established in 1839. Of nnsectarian institutions the chief is Wash ington university, which includes the following departments: the college proper, the law school, the polytechnic institute, and the Mary institute for the education of women. There are 65 instructors and nearly 1000 pupils. The public school system is at a high standard of efficiency; there are 104 school buildings, with an attendance of 50,000 pupils in the day schools, and more than 6,000 in the night schools. Of news papers and periodicals there are 10 dailies (4 German), most of which publish also weekly, tri-weekly, and Sunday editions; 28 weeklies (5 German and 1 French); 3 semi monthlies (1 German); 28 monthlies (2 German and 1 Spanish); 2 bimonthlies: and two quarterlies. There are many fine hotels, the chief of which are the Lindell, the Plant ers', the Laclede, Barninn's and the Grand Central. The Southern hotel, one of the largest and best, was destroyed by fire in 1877. A remarkable and magnificent structure is the bridge winch connects the city with East St. Louis. a city in Clair co.. Illi nois, on the opposite (eastern) bank of the Mississippi. The bridge, begun int1869 and finished in 1874, at a cost of nearly $10,000,000, is 2,225 ft. long and 54 ft. wide. The superstructure is of steel and cast iron, upon 4 piers of granite and limestone. The cen tral span is 520 ft., the longest in the world, and is raised 60 ft. above the level of the water—this permits the passage of steamboats in any state of the water. The designer of the bridge, which is generally looked upon as one of the greatest triumphs of Ameri ican engineering skill, is rapt. James 13. Ends.
As an industrial and commercial center, St. Louis ranks among the most important cities in the United States. The total value of the products of its manufacturing estab lishments during the year 1880 is estimated at not far from $550,000,000. It is now. ranked as the third city in the naion in general manufactures, while in the manufacture of flour it stands first. The river and railroad advantages which the city commando make it one of the two chief centers of trade in the inland west. It is in direct com munication with more than 6,000 m. of navigable waters; and steamboats ply regularly between St. Louis and nearly every important point along this route. In addition to this its railroad facilities are almost unequaled. Sixteen lines of railroad center here, among others such important routes as the Ohio and Mississippi, the Atlantic and Pacific, the Missouri Pacific, the St. Louis, Kansas City and Northern. the Chicago and Alton ; the Wabash, St. Louis and Pacific, the St. Louis, Iron Mountain and Southern, the Illinois and St. Louis, the Indianapolis and St. Louis, and the Vandalia line.