Are you a researcher, writer, or just plain old history buff wanting to learn more about the origins of Gateway Arch National Park, the Lewis and Clark Expedition, or the early history of St. Louis? Well, the park just made it easier to find what you’re looking for. Starting tomorrow, the park will open its new Archives Reading Room at the Gateway Arch National Park Research Center in downtown St. Louis. 

The park’s comprehensive collections include thousands of books, manuscripts, audio recordings, images, objects, and papers. They pertain to the history of the park, the nation’s westward expansion, the design and construction of the Gateway Arch, and St. Louis history. Researchers can access such diverse holdings as records pertaining to widows of Indian wars; as early directories of St. Louis business; documents on the fur trade; and maps, newspaper articles, brochures, engravings, letters and other materials relating to western forts, camps, and trading posts. 

The park’s Visual Image Collection alone contains more than 20,000 slides and 8,000 photographs on subjects as wide-ranging as the construction of the Gateway Arch, the early days of the Old Courthouse, and the historic St. Louis Flood of 1993. (Though the images cannot be loaned out, many may be reproduced for purchase, subject to copyright regulation.) 

Then there is the Gateway Arch National Park Oral History Project, a collection of audio interviews with former park employees and others who have played an important role in the history of the Gateway Arch. And of course, there are priceless artifacts from the past such as wagons, stoves, tools, and other remnants from history.

This extensive collection of documents and artifacts is accessible to the public for the first time in more than five years. The original archives room was located inside the Old Courthouse, but the National Park Service determined the historic building’s structural integrity would no longer be a safe home for the collection because of its weight. Park staff worked closely with JNPA and the Gateway Arch Park Foundation to locate a new home for the archives. They eventually re-located the holdings to the ground floor of the historic Old Post Office building in downtown St. Louis.

A fun new addition to the Archives Reading Room is a custom mural by local artist Jillian Kaye, who won a recent design competition hosted by JNPA. The mural on the reading room wall uses postage stamp designs (a nod to the Old Post Office site) that depict various themes from the park’s history.

JNPA is also proud to have supported the Research Center in other ways, including purchasing document cases, furniture, and other supplies.

Researchers are welcome to use archival materials within the park’s Research Center Reading Room. Access to materials is dependent upon physical condition, copyright, and other factors. To inquire about researching the collection or to set up a research appointment, fill out the online contact form on this page or email the park Archivist Katherine Terry to make an appointment.