National Park Service

Department of the Interior

Midwest Archeological Center

Lincoln, Nebraska

MWAC

Midwest Archeological Center

AN ARCHAEOLOGICAL OVERVIEW AND 

ASSESSMENT OF THE CAR2015 PROJECT AT 

JEFFERSON NATIONAL EXPANSION MEMORIAL

TIMOTHY SCHILLING, PH. D.

MIDWEST ARCHEOLOGICAL CENTER

ARCHEOLOGICAL REPORT NO. 1

2014

AN ARCHAEOLOGICAL OVERVIEW AND 

ASSESSMENT OF THE CAR2015 PROJECT AT 

JEFFERSON NATIONAL EXPANSION MEMORIAL

TIMOTHY SCHILLING, PH. D.

NATIONAL PARK SERVICE

MIDWEST ARCHEOLOGICAL CENTER 

ARCHEOLOGICAL REPORT NO. 1

United States Department of the Interior

National Park Service

Midwest Archeological Center

Lincoln, Nebraska

2014
This report has been reviewed against the criteria contained in 43CFR Part 7, Subpart 

A, Section 7.18 (a) (1) and, upon recommendation of the Midwest Regional Office

and the Midwest Archeological Center, has been classified as

AVAILABLE

Making the report available meets the criteria of 43CFR Part 7, Subpart A, Section 7.18 

(a) (1).
i

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Introduction................................................................................................................................ 1

Geographical and Culture-Historical Context....................................................................... 3

A Landscape History of JEFF (1935-present)........................................................................ 9

Previous Archaeological Investigations .................................................................................. 11

Archaeological research questions.......................................................................................... 15

Project Locations ...................................................................................................................... 19

Areas 3-7 ............................................................................................................................ 19

Luther Ely Smith Square.................................................................................................. 19

Old Courthouse ................................................................................................................ 19

Archaeological Potential........................................................................................................... 21

Areas 3-7 ............................................................................................................................ 21

Luther Ely Smith Square ................................................................................................. 22

Old Courthouse ................................................................................................................ 23

Summary and Recommendations ........................................................................................... 25

References Cited........................................................................................................................ 43

LIST OF FIGURES

Figure 1. Jefferson National Expansion Memorial and the 

St. Louis riverfront .................................................................................................................... 27

Figure 2. Map of St. Louis as laid out in 1764 (after Shewey 1892). ................................... 28

Figure 3. Corner of Main and Spruce, ca. 1850. Courtesy of Missouri 

History Museum, St. Louis, MO. Thomas Easterly Collection........................................... 28

Figure 4. Looking southeast from the Old Courthouse, ca. 1890 

(Missouri History Museum Collections)............................................................................... 29

Figure 5. Backlot ca. 1940 (HABS/HAER survey, LOC)...................................................... 30

Figure 6. Third and Washington, facing east at the entrance to the 

Eads Bridge in 1915. The northwest corner of JEFF is on the right. 

Note the trolley tracks and abundance of automobiles at this early date. ......................... 31

Figure 7. Aerial photo of the St. Louis riverfront, ca. 1930-1935. 

Vacant lots that once were built out can be seen at the foot of 

Chestnut Street (center right).................................................................................................. 31
ii

JAGA

Figure 8. A building under demolition ca. 1940 (HABS/HAER survey, LOC).................. 32

Figure 9. The deserted downtown district (HABS/HAER, LOC). ..................................... 32

Figure 10. Site demolition. The photo was taken from near the corner 

of Market and Third Street. The new West Entrance will be built on this 

site. The Old Courthouse is in the background..................................................................... 33

Figure 11. Site demolition, notice salvaged building materials stockpiled 

along the riverfront. View is to the West................................................................................. 34

Figure 12. JEFF during the early 1950s. Taken from the Eads Bridge 

facing south (Courtesy of the St. Louis Landmarks Association)....................................... 34

Figure 13. Relocation of the railroad. ca. 1960 (UMSL library).......................................... 35

Figure 14. Photographs taken during the construction of the Arch. The 

scale of the excavation for the monument foundations and the underground 

museum removed fill down to bedrock across the central portion of the park................ 36

Figure 15. CAR2015 project areas........................................................................................... 37

Figure 16. I-70/44 trench, the Old Cathedral is visible to the right (ca. 1964)................... 37

Figure 17. Elevation change 1948-2012.................................................................................. 38

Figure 18. Selected profiles comparing 1948 surface to modern surface. ......................... 39

Figure 19. The riverfront ca. 1940, taken from the Eads Bridge facing 

south (St. Louis Landmarks Association). ............................................................................. 40

Figure 20. The south entrance of the Old Cathedral (left-1939 and right-2000).............. 40

Figure 21. LES square ca. 1907. ............................................................................................... 41

Figure 22. LES Square, 1940. Note the absence of demolition debris. .............................. 41
1

INTRODUCTION

The Gateway Arch (Figure 1) lies at the center of Jefferson National Expansion 

Memorial (JEFF). Towering over 600 feet above the city of St. Louis, it is a national icon, 

a symbol of St. Louis, and the most identifiable aspect of the park. In spite of its unique 

position on the landscape and its ultimate enshrinement in 1987 as a National Historic 

Landmark, well before the 50-year mark, the Arch is a commemorative feature built by 

NPS to mark the St. Louis riverfront as a pivotal place in America’s westward expansion. 

The site was the created by President Franklin Roosevelt by executive order in 19351

 and 

is first place to be recognized under the Historic Sites Act of 1935, which was designed 

“to preserve for public use historic sites, buildings, and objects of national significance 

for the inspiration and benefit of the people of the United States.” Under the act, NPS 

was empowered to “erect and maintain tablets to mark or commemorate historic or 

prehistoric places and events of national historical or archaeological significance.” NPS, 

following the guidance of Thomas Tallmadge, determined that only three buildings 

along the waterfront were nationally significant (Bellavia 1996:18). The remaining 

buildings were demolished to make way for a planned memorial. 

The Gateway Arch is an internationally important structure designed by a 

master architect, Eero Saarinen, and is a historical place in its own right, but the process 

of redeveloping and making the Arch the centerpiece of a constructed, modernist 

landscape exposes an underlying contradiction in the park. Historic buildings and 

potential archaeological deposits along the river were sacrificed to erect the Arch 

and build a park, and commemorating the St. Louis riverfront’s place in Westward 

Expansion was deemed more important than preserving the historical remnants that 

may have existed. In the time that has since passed the underlying goals, philosophical 

emphasis, and methods of implementing the Historic Sites Act have changed immensely. 

It is probably not a stretch to say that if JEFF were designated a historic site under 

today’s philosophies and methods, the outcome would be vastly different. Just the 

level of documentation before construction would be exponentially greater than was 

previously done.

The Gateway Arch and Arch grounds are historically significant and preserved 

places, but there is a real possibility that earlier, fragmentary, unrecognized deposits 

related to America’s westward expansion are buried beneath the modern surface. NPS 

1 The second clause of Executive Order 7252 states: 

WHEREAS the Secretary of the Interior through the National Park Service has determined that certain lands situated on the west bank of the Mississippi River at and near the site of Old St. Louis, Missouri, possess exceptional 

value as commemorating or illustrating the history of the United States and are a historic site within the meaning of 

the said act, since thereon were situated: the Spanish Colonial office where, during the administration of Thomas 

Jefferson, third President of the United States, all the first territory comprised in the Upper Louisiana Purchase 

was transferred to the United States; the Government House at which, on March 9, 1804, Charles Dehault Delassus, 

the Spanish commandant in St. Louis, transferred possession of Upper Louisiana to Captain Amos Stoddard of the 

United States Army, who had been delegated by France as its representative, and at which, on the morning of March 

10, 1804, Captain Stoddard, as the agent of the United States, took formal possession of the Louisiana Purchase and 

raised the American flag, by reason of which transactions the Spanish, French, and American flags waved successively over the site within a period of twenty-four hours; the old French Cathedral of St. Louis, earliest home of religion 

on the western bank of the Mississippi; the place where Laclede and Chouteau established the first civil government 

west of the Mississippi; the place where Lafayette was received by a grateful people; the places where the Santa Fe, 

the Oregon, and other trails originated; the place where Lewis and Clark prepared for their trip of discovery and 

exploration; and the Court House in which the Dred Scott case was tried
2

JEFFERSON NATIONAL EXPANSION MEMORIAL

activities have dramatically shaped the modern landscape. Past NPS projects deeply 

cut the historic land surface or buried it with thick fills. Over the course of NPS tenure, 

hundreds of thousands of cubic meters of sediment have been moved, and the park’s 

topography now bears little resemblance to the historic landscape. Similarly, the city 

landscape that NPS removed in the early 20th century dramatically impacted deposits 

from St. Louis’ earliest history. Nevertheless, the density of important historical 

locations in the pre-park waterfront district, and potentially associated archaeological 

remains, was exceptional. The goal of this document is to provide an overview of the 

extant archaeological database and an assessment of the archaeological potential of the 

park. This overview and assessment, in particular, is designed to aid in assessing the 

impacts and developing a strategy for fulfilling NPS responsibilities vis–à–vis the City 

Arch River 2015 (CAR2015) project. The search for archaeological resources at JEFF is 

an important and necessary undertaking that has been recognized by Park staff and is 

both prescribed in Federal law and required in the CAR2015 Programmatic Agreement. 

The proposed work associated would impact the upper 100+ cm (ca. 3 ft) of soil across 

much of the park, and in some locations, ground disturbance may exceed 10 m. For the 

purposes of this discussion, the park (Figure 1) can be divided into three areas: Areas 

3-7, Luther Ely Smith Square (LES Square), and the Old Courthouse (OCH). 

The overview and assessment combines both historical documentation 

and archaeological observations. Neither data set is complete. Tremendous gaps in 

knowledge exist about conditions of buried resources. In spite of the sparse data set, 

general statements about the probable integrity of buried archaeological resources can 

be made.
3

GEOGRAPHICAL AND CULTURE-HISTORICAL CONTEXT

Jefferson National Expansion Memorial was built on a 38-block parcel in the 

downtown region of St. Louis, Missouri. Culturally and physiographically, St. Louis is 

connected to the Mississippi River Valley. St. Louis is on the west bank of the Mississippi 

River, immediately south of the confluence of the Mississippi, Missouri, and Illinois 

rivers. Downtown St. Louis lies on a bluff composed of St. Genevieve and St. Louis 

Limestone deposited during the Mississippian Era (359-323 mya)2. The limestone 

basement is shallow and in the past cropped out along the riverfront. The bedrock 

slopes from the highest elevations in the west near the western boundary of the park to 

the lowest in the east along the riverfront. Eolian, glacio-fluvial, and glacio-lacustrine 

deposits overlie the limestone bedrock. These were first deposited during the end of 

the Pleistocene Epoch (ca. 20 kya). Soils formed in these sediments would have been the 

surface sediments upon which people would have lived during the Holocene Epoch (ca. 

12 kya – present).

Humans first occupied the confluence region near the end of the last Ice Age. 

Early occupations were sporadic and ephemeral; however, by the late prehistoric period, 

St. Louis and the American Bottom, the adjacent bottomland to the east, were the most 

densely populated areas in North America. Typically, the ancient cultures of St. Louis 

and American Bottom are seen as closely interrelated if not the same. Consequently, the 

archaeological record of the American Bottom provides a framework for understanding 

the archaeological history of JEFF. The pre-Columbian occupation can be divided 

into four distinct but interrelated periods (Paleoindian, Archaic, Woodland, and 

Mississippian periods). These periods are distinguished by distinctive material culture, 

settlement patterns, and subsistence patterns. The later Euroamerican history can 

be divided into three general periods (the Colonial period, the Early Historic and 

Westward Expansion period, and the Late Historic Industrial period) based on the 

region’s political history.

Paleoindian (ca. >11,000 to 8000 bp)3

 people lived in small, mobile bands and were 

well adapted to hunting big game like the Pleistocene elephants and bison that roamed 

the post-glacial Midwest (Haynes 2005; Meltzer 1993). The Paleoindian period was a 

time when climate patterns transitioned from the Ice Age to near-modern conditions. 

Massive ice sheets and major melt water flows drove the early Paleoindian climate and 

environmental patterns. After about 10,500 bp, climate slowly changed to more modernlike conditions (Bettis, et al. 2008). Paleoindian material culture assemblages typically 

consist of lithic tools and chipping debris. The most recognizable tools from this time 

have flutes along their bodies (e.g., Clovis and Folsom points), but later Paleoindian 

points have stems rather than flutes (e.g., Scottsbluff, Hell Gap, Alberta, Eden, and 

Angostura)(Justice 1987). Fluted points are found widely across eastern North America. 

They are generally similar throughout their range. 

2 mya- million years ago, kya- thousand years ago

3 Dates are presented in calendar years before radiocarbon present (bp) unless otherwise noted. 
4

JEFFERSON NATIONAL EXPANSION MEMORIAL

In the St. Louis region, Paleoindian sites are rare. At the Kimmswick Bed (ca. 

40 km south of JEFF), Paleoindian projectile points were found in association with 

megafauna bones. These finds represent the first unambiguous association of Clovis 

people with mastodons (Grahm, et al. 1981)., The McKinnis Clovis Cache was found 

north of JEFF, along the Missouri River. The cache, consisting of about a dozen Clovis 

points and a dozen Clovis preforms, was uncovered during land-leveling operations 

done as part of a housing development. The raw stone material may have come from 

over 160 km away. Other Paleoindian sites show similar patterns of exotic lithic material 

suggesting that Paleoindian people often travelled long-distances or had large territories 

(Morrow 1996; Tankersly and Morrow 1993).

The Archaic period (10,000 bp to 2700 bp) represents a time when people settled 

into more permanent locations, perhaps even villages, and began exploiting a wider array 

of smaller game and local plant resources. Around 10,000 bp, the megafauna died out or 

evolved into their modern counterparts. Consequently, ancient people had to shift their 

focus towards different species. In particular, white-tailed deer became a favored target 

of early hunters. The Early and Middle Archaic periods span a time of dramatic climate 

change called the Hypsithermal or Holocene Climatic Optimum (HCO) (Brown and 

Vierra 1983). During the HCO, temperatures may have averaged as much as 5° higher 

than present, and in the Midcontinent region, drier conditions may have prevailed. After 

the HCO, river bottoms and backwater regions stabilized. The natural levees of oxbow 

lakes became favored places for settlement, and riverine resources assumed a prominent 

place in the subsistence systems of ancient Midwestern peoples (Brown 1985). The first 

domesticated plants appeared during the Archaic period (Simon 2009).

Concurrent with settlement and subsistence shifts was an increase in the 

number and localized distribution of projectile point styles. Point types appear to be 

geographically differentiated, perhaps suggesting social differentiation or increased 

territoriality (McElrath, et al. 2009). As people became more sedentary, they also 

became more specialized. Archaic people used a wide variety of lithic tools, including 

both chipped stone and ground stone. Raw materials and manufacturing techniques 

suggest that Archaic people in the St. Louis region had ties to the Southeast, Midwest, 

and Great Plains.

During the Archaic period, ancient Americans began building large-scale, 

monumental architecture, indicating they developed more complex social formations 

necessary to undertake and successfully complete projects that required exceptional 

labor inputs. At the same time, social relations may have expanded and long-distance 

trade networks flourished across Eastern North America, especially during the Middle 

Archaic period (ca. 5000 bp). The Archaic period may have come to the end with the 

onset of large-scale flooding in the Mississippi River Basin, which would have disrupted 

these large-scale social networks (Kidder 2006).

In the Mississippi Valley and adjacent uplands, Archaic sites are sparse. When 

they are found, they tend to be either isolated finds or small-scale deposits in caves or 

rockshelters. Sites do occur in the floodplain. These sites occasionally have pits and 

may have been relatively substantial occupations, or they may represent the continued 
5

GEOGRAPHICAL AND CULTURE-HISTORICAL CONTEXT

occupation of favored sites over a long time (McElrath, et al. 2009). Still, the scarcity of 

Archaic period archaeological remains suggests the area was underpopulated.

The Woodland period (c. 2700 to 900 bp) follows the Archaic period. As opposed 

to earlier times, lithic technology becomes sparser in the archaeological record, and 

pottery assumes a dominant place (Brown 1986). Near the end of the Woodland 

period, bows and arrows replace atlatl technology. Backwaters and the natural levees 

of secondary streams are favored settlement locations, but archaeological sites are also 

found at the base of alluvial fans and occasionally along upland streams. The Woodland 

period is usually divided into early, middle, and late subdivisions that represent different 

material culture, settlement, and organizational traits. In most cases these differences 

appear as a consequence of outside people moving into the region rather than the 

evolution of existing societies (Kelly 2002). 

Deer and riverine resources were staples of the Woodland diet. Plant foods 

consisted of a mix of wild and domesticates. Most people practiced some form of smallscale horticulture using the indigenous “Eastern Agriculture Complex” (Smith 1992). 

People may also have practiced seasonal mobility, or they may have been more settled, 

living in some locations year round. Archaeological sites tend to be small or ephemeral; 

not until the end of the Woodland period do occupations become intense. This is likely a 

function of population size that probably rose. The population increase co-occurs with 

the adaptation of maize-based agriculture. 

Mound building appears during this time. Middle Woodland people built 

burial and other kinds of earthen mounds along bluffs that lined river valleys. Across 

the Midwest, burial mounds, in particular, are associated with Hopewell culture, 

a widespread set of symbols and rituals. As social groups grew in size, it is likely that 

specific types of leadership developed. Some Hopewell burials have elaborate grave 

goods associated with central individuals. These individuals may have been shamans or 

other ritual leaders who held important places in Middle Woodland societies. Overall, 

archaeological data suggest that Woodland groups were widely dispersed across the 

confluence areas. Though decentralized, they may have been connected through 

multiple interwoven marriage and ritual relationships and were brought together 

occasionally through feasting and other ceremonial occasions (Kelly 2002).

The Mississippian period (900 to 550 bp) was the zenith of pre-Columbian 

occupation in the St. Louis area. The Mississippian period is coeval with Mississippian 

culture in the Midwest. Mississippian culture was a widespread set of practices whose 

remains included widely-distributed, highly decorated pottery, maize-based agriculture, 

and monumental architecture (i.e., earthen mounds). The once widely dispersed social 

groups moved into larger settlements, with some having populations that may have 

approached several thousand inhabitants (Lopinot and Pauketat 1997; Milner 1998). 

Mississippian subsistence was an extension of the previous Woodland horticultural 

practices. Deer and riverine resources were still the most prominent animal foods (Kelly 

1997), and maize horticulture became more widespread. Through time, maize became 

one of the most important plant foods (Fritz and Lopinot 2002). Settlements were 

generally located similarly to Woodland settlements; however, the landscape became 

increasingly crowded, forcing some to live in less than optimal places. The general 
6

JEFFERSON NATIONAL EXPANSION MEMORIAL

population trend appears to be a result of both internal growth and immigration into the 

region (Alt 2006; Milner 1996). Archaeological data suggest some places were occupied 

for several centuries while others may have been more short-term occupations, perhaps 

only occupied for a few years (Collins 1997; Pauketat 1989). Overall, people were probably 

sedentary during this time but short-term mobility was likely.

Although Mississippian people built a wide variety of earthen mounds (Fowler 

1997), they are most known for building quadrilateral, flat-topped pyramids that 

supported buildings or other types of more ephemeral architecture. The buildings 

served a multitude of functions. In some cases, they were the residences of important 

leaders and in others they were public buildings or funerary structures (Lindauer and 

Blitz 1997). Several mound towns are found in the St. Louis area. Cahokia, the largest 

pre-Columbian archaeological site in North America, has Monks Mound, the largest 

earthen mound in North America. Cahokia is located about 15 km east of JEFF. The 

East St. Louis Mounds and the St. Louis Mounds were nearer. The East St. Louis 

Mounds area was located on the east side of the Mississippi River beneath the modern 

town of East St. Louis. The St. Louis Mound group was built about 2 km north of JEFF. 

No above-ground architecture remains of these two pre-Columbian sites. The East St. 

Louis Mounds are currently undergoing excavation, which demonstrates that there is 

still a rich, intact archaeological record of this occupation (Galloy 2010). The St. Louis 

Mounds may not have fared so well. Archaeological investigations suggests that much of 

the historic and modern city removed any archaeological remains (Marshall 1992). 

After the abandonment of Cahokia, the St. Louis region appears sparsely 

populated until new populations moved into the area. These people likely came from 

the north and are the immediate ancestors of the historically documented Algonquinspeaking people who lived in the region. They were part of what archaeologists call 

Oneota culture. Oneota people were horticulturalists who lived in relatively small villages 

along the rivers of the Upper Midwest. The Osage and other Dhegian-Siouxspeaking 

people also moved into the St. Louis region during this time. The Dhegian-Sioux people 

may have come from the Ohio River Valley and may potentially have Mississippian 

ancestors. By the 17th and 18th century, a number of sometimes allied and inter-related 

Indian nations were living in the area.

On February 14, 1764, St. Louis was founded when René Auguste Chouteau and 

his fellow traders from New Orleans began laying out their trading-post village. Three 

months earlier, Pierre Laclede chose this spot, located on the bluff above the west bank of 

the Mississippi River, because of its location near the juncture of the major rivers leading 

to the interior (Primm 1981). The rivers provided both a connection to native trappers 

and a route for their products to the trading port of New Orleans. Initially, Chouteau laid 

out a grid of streets along the river (Figure 2). The present configuration of downtown 

St. Louis is based on this early grid, and much of the early town is encompassed by JEFF.

Even before St. Louis was founded, France ceded Louisiana, including St. Louis, 

to the Spanish as a condition of the Treaty of Fontainebleau4

 and Britain’s victory in the 

4 The Treaty of Fontainebleau was a secret treaty between France and Spain that ceded all of Louisiana to Spain. In the 

subsequent Treaty of Paris (1763) that ended the Seven Year’s War, France gave Britain the land east of the Mississippi 

River. Spain did not contest this arrangement.
7

Seven Years’ War. Although nominally ruled by Spain, early St. Louis was built in the 

French Creole style (Figure 3). Houses and buildings were usually built as poteaux sur 

sole (posts on sill) or poteaux en terre (posts in ground). Houses were built on lots that 

measured 256 ft x 320 ft (LeeDecker et al. 2012). Lots were large enough to allow for 

gardens or orchards, but agricultural fields were located outside of the village. By 1770 

about 700 people lived in St. Louis, including almost 200 enslaved African Americans 

and an unknown number of Indian slaves (Primm 1981). Although originally founded as 

a fur-trade outpost, St. Louis’ economy grew through agricultural exports.

Early St. Louis was located at the boundary of colonial empires. On May 26, 1780, 

the only Revolutionary War battle west of the Mississippi River was fought when British 

and Indian forces attacked St. Louis. The defenders, consisting of French colonists, 

Spanish officials and soldiers, and African-American and Indian slaves, manned the 

defensive works that were originally built in the 1770s as a result of the threat of attack 

from the Osage and other Native Americans. The British were defeated. The defensive 

works were relatively substantial with stone towers or forts and a stone-and-wood 

barricade wall. Based on historic maps, the fortifications were built just outside the 

western boundaries of the park.

St. Louis became an American city with the Louisiana Purchase in 1803. By then 

it was a thriving center that hugged the riverfront. Americans preferred timber-framed 

buildings over the stone-and-bousillage5

 buildings of the French, but from 1804 to 1821, 

33 stone buildings were built in St. Louis (LeeDecker et al. 2012:26). The city steadily 

grew in the early 19th century. The first steamboat arrived in 1817, and the city expanded 

west beyond Third Street in 1818. Throughout much of this time, the buildings on the 

future JEFF grounds were a mix of wood, brick, and stone. A devastating fire in 1849 

swept through the central riverfront district accelerating the transition to multi-story 

brick buildings that came to dominate the city. Since this area was a mixed industrial/

residential area, the fire displaced people from both their houses and livelihoods. The 

pattern of mixed use would continue until NPS created JEFF and razed the downtown 

district. After the fire, many streets were widened and straightened. Some streets were 

paved at this time, but it was not until the late 19th century that the streets were paved 

with granite pavers—still visible in the Laclede’s Landing area immediately north of the 

Eads Bridge (Wells and Williams 1985). The levee was paved in the 1850s and portions of 

the riverfront—especially south of JEFF—were extended to the east. 

By the middle 1800s, St. Louis was the major trans-shipment location of the 

mid-continent. Furs from the ever-expanding westward frontier would cross paths with 

manufactured goods from the East. The arrival of railroads in 1854 hastened this traffic. 

North-south commerce was interrupted by the Civil War, but by 1874 when the Eads 

Bridge was built, St. Louis was the fourth largest city in the U. S. (http://www.census.

gov/population/www/documentation/twps0027/tab10.txt). The late 19th-century city 

was a near total transformation from the earlier city. Little open space remained along 

the riverfront. Most blocks were built out with substantial, multi-story, brick buildings 

that included deep basements, sometimes two stories deep (Figure 4). Occasionally, 

5 Mud and other filler placed between framing timbers.
8

JEFFERSON NATIONAL EXPANSION MEMORIAL

lots would be crossed by alleys that led to backlots or other empty spaces between 

buildings (Figure 5). 

The riverfront district began to deteriorate in the early 20th century. Much of the 

future park grounds contained light manufacturing and domiciles for workers (Primm 

1981:465). At the same time, the advent of street cars and then automobiles allowed 

greater mobility and the growth of the western suburbs (Figure 6). By the end of the first 

quarter of the 20th century, there were many derelict buildings in the riverfront district, 

some of which were demolished leaving vacant and abandoned lots (LeeDecker et al. 

2012) (Figure 7). In 1933, a group of prominent local individuals, led by Luther Ely Smith, 

formed an association to redevelop the downtown district as a public park. 
9

A LANDSCAPE HISTORY OF JEFF (1935-PRESENT)

Authorized in December 1935, clearance and demolition of the park grounds 

began October 10, 1939. By 1942, only three buildings remained (AECOM 2010). 

Demolition included dismantling, and apparently salvaging some of the mechanical 

systems and other valuable materials from the buildings, and then collapsing the 

buildings into their foundations. (Figures 8-11). The debris was then excavated from the 

remaining basement and hauled away. Basement floors were supposed to be broken so 

water would not pond, but sub-ground foundation walls were allowed to remain (Moore 

1994). After demolition was completed, the grounds were graded and leveled.

Subsequently, portions of the site underwent a variety of different uses. Much 

of the park remained grassy, undeveloped lots within a grid of vacant streets. Railroad 

tracks bounded the park’s eastern edge and the north side of the park was converted into 

a parking lot (Figure 12). Throughout the 1950s, the site remained undeveloped while 

planning and design was undertaken. Nearly 300,000 m3 of fill dirt were deposited 

across the site over the course of the decade, as a way of demonstrating the continued 

commitment to building a park and providing a reminder that the site would not remain 

a parking lot (Brown 1984). Construction on the monument began in June 1959 with the 

relocation of the railroad tracks. The rail line was moved about 30 m west of the original 

right-of-way. The new right-of-way crossed an area where buildings, including the 

historic Manuel Lisa Warehouse (the Old Rock House), previously stood. In addition to 

being moved west, the railroad was buried in a series of cuts and tunnels that hid it from 

view yet allowed rail traffic to continue utilizing their existing bridges and infrastructure 

(Figure 13). Construction of the Arch and the underground Museum of Westward 

Expansion quickly followed (Figure 14). The Arch was completed in the fall of 1965, and 

the shell of the museum was finished shortly thereafter. It took nearly the next decade 

to complete the museum and its exhibits. By 1976 construction was largely completed, 

the site was landscaped, and it took on its modern appearance with the reflecting ponds 

and grand staircase being major focal points. The western edge of the park was greatly 

impacted by the excavation of a trench for I-44, which cut through the remnants of 

building foundations, during the mid-1960s (Figure 15). At the same time, Memorial 

Drive was built within the park boundaries, parallel to I-44. Along the south edge, the 

Poplar Street Bridge (completed in 1967) had a less intrusive impact, just skimming the 

park boundary with its bridge supports. Since 1980, two major constructions, the 70-

mm Odyssey Theater (adjacent to the museum underneath the Arch) and the parking 

garage, have been added to the site.
10

JEFFERSON NATIONAL EXPANSION MEMORIAL
11

PREVIOUS ARCHAEOLOGICAL INVESTIGATIONS

JEFF has seen sparse archaeological work. Early on, starting in 1937, the 

Architectural Research Unit identified 80 sites that were of historical interest. After 

the completion of historical study, three sites, the Old Courthouse, the Old Cathedral, 

and the Manuel Lisa Warehouse, were deemed important enough to be preserved. 

Two of these, the Old Courthouse and the Old Cathedral, still stand today while NPS 

dismantled the Manuel Lisa Warehouse in the 1940s with the intent of reconstructing 

it on the park grounds at a later date. Remnants of that building are stored in the 

basement of the Old Courthouse. Before it was dismantled, rudimentary archaeological 

investigations did take place. These were reported by Henry Rice, the Chief Landscape 

Draftsman of the park, in a 1940 manuscript (Rice 1940). This early work, although not 

done to professional standards even of the day, gives valuable information about the 

park’s landscape at a pre-NPS time. Rice’s manuscript suggests that, especially close to 

the river, little to no intact sediments that date earlier than the early 1800s remain. Inside 

the building, beneath the basement, only a small accumulation of sediment was found. 

Outside the building, bare, eroded limestone surfaces were exposed beneath a very thin 

accumulation. Apparently, much of the bluff edge, especially close to the water, had been 

quarried for building materials.

In the late 1950s and early 1960s, Park Service Archaeologist Zorro Bradley 

led NPS efforts to identify and salvage historic resources before construction of the 

memorial and museum. Bradley was initially confident about encountering intact 

archaeological resources in multiple places, but after two years of intensive fieldwork—

both as salvage excavations done during construction and pre-construction testing—he 

determined that there was little probability for encountering intact archaeological 

resources (Bradley 1976). In spite of the lack of archaeological provenience and a great 

degree of mixing, Bradley recognized that encountering remains in disturbed contexts 

posed a problem for NPS. In his 1960 letter report, he states

Regardless of the “churned-up” nature of the historical remains of Old St. Louis, 

earthmoving activities in the construction zones do uncover and expose bits 

and pieces of important historic sites – particularly artifacts which, although out 

of their proper context in many instances, are worthy of preservation for they 

add to our knowledge of the past. As the major phases of construction continue 

there will be additional material brought to light that will probably require 

the attention of an archaeologist and just as important, by keeping vigilant the 

service can never be accused of letting important historical information go down 

the drain. (Bradley 1960:2)

Ultimately, Bradley’s work provides important insight into the potential 

archaeological resources in the park. Bradley arrived during the relocation of the 

railroad tracks and investigated remains within the right-of-way. Within the railroad 

construction zone, he encountered remains that may be related to the Joseph Robidoux 

III property. He found foundations and other building fragments that he suggested 

were portions of a bakehouse or other outbuilding. Bradley also suggested that, “some 

excavation was possible around the footing of the 1841 Glasgow-Howard building” 
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JEFFERSON NATIONAL EXPANSION MEMORIAL

(Bradley 1960:2), which was the oldest building demolished by NPS in the railroad cut 

area6. Bradley’s 1960 memo indicates that reports were in preparation. These reports are 

not available in NPS archives, but a later memo notes that archaeological features were 

limited and artifact recovery was sparse (Bradley 1976). 

In 1984, the construction of the parking garage on the northwest corner of the 

park was monitored by archaeologists from Southern Illinois University – Edwardsville 

(SIU-E). Excavation was extensive and covered much of blocks 12, 13, 28, and 29 and 

parts of Block 65. Initially, researchers believed this area had a high potential for in situ

archaeological remains, but artifact recovery within the excavation was limited. Of the 

materials collected, only two ceramic sherds may possibly date as early as the mid-19th 

century, the rest were late 19th- or early 20th-century items. Architectural features were 

encountered in Block 28. These consisted of brick and limestone foundation elements. 

Archaeologists speculated that these could be related to the Pierre “Cadet” Chouteau 

house, which once stood in that location (Wells and Williams 1985:3). Final analysis 

suggested that they were the remains of the W. H. Bull medicine factory, which was built 

in 1867 and removed by NPS in the late 1930s (Wells and Williams 1985). In spite of the 

extensive excavation, no significant, intact archaeological remains were encountered. 

Since the parking garage project, archaeology has been sporadic at JEFF. 

Occasional spot finds have been made during small construction projects. These 

materials, though collected, have come from disturbed contexts and are not considered 

significant. Noble (1999, 2007) monitored two construction projects. One, done in 

1998, was a geotechnical coring project undertaken before the construction of the 

maintenance facility near the southern boundary of the park. In this project, Noble 

(1999) concluded that the area was covered by deep fill deposits (>3 m), and construction 

of the maintenance facility would not impact NRHP eligible resources. The later project 

involved monitoring a utility installation that crosscut the northwest lawn of the 

Old Courthouse. Trenching encountered an undocumented late 19th-century brick 

sewer that is not NRHP eligible. Noble (2007) described the feature and the project 

was completed.

The most recent archaeological work has been done in association with the 

CAR2015 project. Archaeologists from Louis Berger undertook a geoarchaeological 

coring project that explored LES Square and the area of the proposed west entrance 

(LeeDecker et al. 2012). They excavated soil cores from blocks 59-61 and Block 85. 

Their results indicate that deep fills cover these areas. Fills are likely a combination 

of imported materials and the remains of buildings that were collapsed into their 

basements. No NRHP eligible sites were found in their excavations, nor were any 

potentially archaeological-bearing sediments or horizons encountered (see below for a 

more in-depth discussion).

Within the broader downtown St. Louis district, archaeological sites are more 

numerous. Various surveys and excavations have investigated a number of archaeological 

6 Bradley’s 1976 memo suggests they found artifacts (6-8 gunflints) from Dimik’s gun shop. H. (Horace) E. Dimick and 

company are listed in the 1850s St. Louis directories at 38th N. Main Street. H.E. Dimick apparently was an outfitter who 

manufactured guns and imported fishing tackle among other things. This building was located approximately at the corner 

of Chestnut and First (or Main) Street, which is now occupied by the Museum of Westward Expansion.
13

PREVIOUS ARCHAEOLOGICAL INVESTIGATIONS

sites. To the north of JEFF, the St. Louis Mound Group (23SL4) and the Big Mound 

(23SL3) were given site numbers, however testing by MoDOT as part of the new bridge 

project indicates the sites have been almost completely destroyed by historic urban 

development (http://www.modot.org/ehp/sites/BigMound.htm). While investigating the 

St. Louis Mound Group, MoDOT identified the remains of the Gestering Wagon Factor 

(23SL2310), the John C. Kupferte Brass Foundry (23SL2295) and another multi-use 

industrial area. They also encountered the remains of a brick clamp used by the Conrad 

Beck brick yard and a thick historic trash midden. MoDOT archaeologists work on I-64 

ramps 7 and 8 also investigated middle 19th-century deposits at the Walsh’s Row House 

Sites (23SL2234). The sites contained foundations, a latrine pit, a refuse pit, and a sewer 

line that may date as early as 1840 (LeeDecker et al. 2012). 

Historic features, including foundations, a well, cisterns, and latrine pits 

dating from 1836 to at least 1950 were found at site 23SL976 in blocks 195 and 205 by 

archaeologists from the Archaeological Research Center of St. Louis (ARC) doing 

salvage work before the construction of the then-new Federal Courthouse (Naglich and 

Harl 1995). ARC archaeologists also investigated the Cochran Gardens Development 

northwest of JEFF. Subsequent salvage work at Cochran Gardens found both fill deposits 

and the remains of the building foundations (Harl 2006). ARC also removed human 

remains from seven coffin burials that were associated with the old Rutgers Graveyard 

at the corner of South Seventh and Park streets (Kohn 2011).

Finally, although not explicitly archaeological, numerous historical architecture 

surveys and viewshed analyses, associated with proposed development, have been done 

in the area.
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JEFFERSON NATIONAL EXPANSION MEMORIAL
15

ARCHAEOLOGICAL RESEARCH QUESTIONS

Determining whether or not a place is eligible for listing on the National 

Register of Historic Places requires that potentially eligible locations have the following 

attributes: “The quality of significance in American history, architecture, archeology, 

engineering, and culture is present in districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects 

that possess integrity of location, design, setting, materials, workmanship, feeling, and 

association, and:

A. That are associated with events that have made a significant contribution to 

the broad patterns of our history; or

B. That are associated with the lives of significant persons in or past; or

C. That embody the distinctive characteristics of a type, period, or method 

of construction, or that represent the work of a master, or that possess high 

artistic values, or that represent a significant and distinguishable entity whose 

components may lack individual distinction; or

D. That have yielded or may be likely to yield, information important in history 

or prehistory.” 

(http://www.nps.gov/nr/publications/bulletins/nrb15/nrb15_2.htm)

Most archaeological sites are nominated or considered eligible under Criterion 

D. Information in Criterion D is considered important when, “... it is shown to have a 

significant bearing on a research design that addresses such areas as: 1) current data gaps 

or alternative theories that challenge existing ones or 2) priority areas identified under a 

State or Federal agency management plan” (NPS Bulletin 15:21). One way to demonstrate 

the connection between important information and a location is by evaluating whether 

specific research questions can be answered by information contained in the property 

(NPS Bulletin 15:22).

In general, much information about the prehistoric archaeology of the St. Louis 

and confluence region, especially of the Mississippian period, exists but there is very 

little known about the prehistoric peoples of St. Louis, in particular. Therefore, research 

questions relating to the age and chronology of prehistoric people on the west bank of 

the Mississippi River is a major gap in our knowledge of JEFF. 

Key research questions for prehistoric remains and/or sites include:

1. How old are the materials?

2. How long was the site occupied?

3. What kinds of activities occurred at the site?

4. What was the settlement/subsistence system?

5. What kinds of ceremonial or religious activities occurred? 

6. What were the geographic and temporal extents of past trade networks and 

social relations?
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JEFFERSON NATIONAL EXPANSION MEMORIAL

These are basic questions that can be studied by examining past material culture 

and other archaeological remains. Since prehistoric materials from JEFF are currently 

non-existent, the discovered presence of any prehistoric materials should be considered 

significant and useful for addressing these questions.

The historic period at JEFF can broadly be divided into three periods: the 

Colonial period, the Early Historic and Westward Expansion period, and the Late 

Historic Industrial period. This framework is only a heuristic for efficiently discussing 

the archaeological potential of JEFF; many others are available and may be better suited 

to different purposes. The Colonial period begins with the founding of St. Louis city in 

1764; it ends with signing of the Louisiana Purchase Treaty in 1803 and the establishment 

of an American presence in St. Louis. The Early Historic and Westward Expansion 

period lies between 1803 and 1890. This period is of great interest to the park since it is 

the timeframe commemorated in the Museum of Westward Expansion and the primary 

reason that JEFF was established. The final period, the Late Historic Industrial period, 

beginning in 1890 and ending with the founding of JEFF in 1935, encompasses the end 

of the riverfront as a manufacturing and residential district.

The Colonial period is only poorly known through historical documents. In spite 

of the sparse documentation, researchers believe St. Louis was populated by a diversity 

of people with important differences in both ethnicity and social status. Ultimately, a 

distinct creole identity arose in St. Louis. The process of creolization is of intense interest 

to archaeologists (e.g., Dawdy 2000), and the period has been investigated by historians 

(e.g., Cleary 2011). Research questions arising from the study of this period may include:

1. How did various people in St. Louis use material culture to maintain or 

produce new identities?

2. What kinds of goods did people have access to, and how did they use material 

culture, both from a functional perspective and a symbolic/ideological 

perspective?

3. What power dynamics operated in early St. Louis, and how did trade 

relationships vary from or resemble those in other colonial locations?

Research from the colonial period benefits from a historical record that is not 

available for the prehistoric period. Thus, the questions are finer grained yet the research 

design will require that historical contexts have better integrity than prehistoric ones. 

Important colonial period features may include house remains, privies, wells, or other 

sealed contexts.

The Early Historic and Westward Expansion period is identified in the park’s 

enabling legislation as having primary importance. The documentary record for this 

period, while not complete, is more extensive and thorough than the Colonial period. 

Maps, city directories, land transactions and other legal papers, and newspapers exist 

that can be accessed for research purposes. The historical record, however, tends 

to privilege the lives and experiences of wealthy or well-known individuals. While 

historians (Hodes 2009; Primm 1981) have investigated important people and processes 

from this time, archaeology may provide additional information about the quotidian 
17

ARCHAEOLOGICAL RESEARCH QUESTIONS

aspects of common people living in early St. Louis. Archaeological deposits, since they 

are typically formed by the everyday accumulation of day-to-day materials, can be useful 

for understanding the lives of underdocumented people who only tangentially appear in 

the historical record. These people may have included workers in the fur trade, store 

clerks who worked for outfitters, craftspeople who labored in the thriving riverfront, 

or laborers who transferred goods to and from steamboats that docked along the levee. 

Questions relating to class, identity, and race would be appropriately investigated 

through archaeological research. To answer these questions, archaeological resources 

should be as specific as possible. For example to discuss questions of identity, deposits 

should be traceable to either specific individuals or narrow time windows.

The documentary record is most plentiful for the Late Historic Industrial 

period, and it has been the subject of continuous publication in numerous popular and 

local histories. The documentary record is abundant and readily accessible. Research 

questions for this time are similar to those of the Early Historic period. Since there is a 

high potential for architectural remains from this period, archaeological investigations 

may be useful for aiding in historical architecture studies. However, many extant 

building in St. Louis were built by the same architects using the same methods as those 

that may remain on the grounds of JEFF. Therefore, archaeological research done for 

historical architecture purposes should be narrowly addressed to specific research 

questions that cannot be answered by studies of more intact remains in the region.
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JEFFERSON NATIONAL EXPANSION MEMORIAL
19

PROJECT LOCATIONS

Areas 3-7

Areas 3-7 encompass much of the park grounds. These designations are part of 

the CAR2015 design nomenclature and effectively represent most of the park east of 

I-70 (Figure 15). Areas 3-7 are bounded by Memorial Drive on the west, Washington 

Avenue on the north, Poplar Street on the south, and Lenore K. Sullivan Boulevard 

on the east. Generalized landscaping is proposed in this area. These activities include 

removing the grass/sod and upper layers of soil, scarifying the newly exposed surface, 

removing debris from this surface, and adding new sediments. As part of the landscape 

program, removing and replacing existing plantings is proposed. Around the perimeter, 

security bollards may be removed or replaced. Removal and replacement of stationary 

bollards entail shallow (<1 m) ground disturbance while the removal and replacement 

of moveable bollards may require deeper (>2 m) disturbance. Deeper ground disturbing 

activities (>3 m) may come about as part of the construction of the West Entrance (Area 

3) and the removal of the parking garage (Area 4).

Luther Ely Smith Square

Luther Ely Smith Square lies between the Arch and the Old Courthouse; it 

is bounded by Chestnut and Market streets on the north and south, respectively. 

Much of the activity in LES Square will involve filling or raising the landscape. Such 

activities would have no potential adverse effects, but a component of the project, the 

installation of storm-water drainage infrastructure, may require ground-disturbing 

activities. As with Areas 3-7, most of the drainage infrastructure excavation would be 

shallow; however, the infrastructure improvements also include the addition of a large 

underground storage tank that would require deeper ground disturbance. LES Square 

will be connected to the park via a large bridge or lid that will extend to the west and cap 

I-44. As part of the Bridge over the Highway Project, parts of Third Street and Memorial 

Drive will be abandoned and returned to park use. Building the bridge and abandoning 

the roadway may entail substantial surface disturbance and potentially impact 

archaeological resources (Daniels, et al. 2012). These activities will affect portions of Lot 

85 and lots 59-63.

Old Courthouse

The Old Courthouse is located on the western boundary of the park, immediately 

west of LES Square. Proposed ground-disturbing activities at the Old Courthouse 

include installing a new natural gas line on the south side of the building, installing 

ADA compliant ramps, and the excavation of elevator pits in the North or South cross 

hallways inside the building.
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JEFFERSON NATIONAL EXPANSION MEMORIAL
21

ARCHAEOLOGICAL POTENTIAL

Areas 3-7

Although complete archaeological survey of JEFF has not been undertaken, 

enough information exists to make judgments about potential disturbances to 

archaeological sites that may qualify for listing on the National Register of Historic 

Places. Overall, there is a very low probability for encountering buried archaeological 

sites in Areas 3-7, but the likelihood of encountering NRHP eligible sites may increase 

with deeper disturbances. Archaeological and historical research demonstrates the preconstruction surface of the park has either been removed or deeply buried by past 

park construction activities. Multiple lines of evidence converge to make this a 

robust conclusion.

A comparison of topographic changes on the park grounds shows substantial 

changes have occurred since the park’s creation (Figure 16). Comparing topographic 

maps made in 1948 after much of the urban infrastructure was removed from the park 

grounds with a modern topographic map demonstrates that in many places tens of 

meters of fill have been added, while in other places deep excavations have removed large 

quantities of sediment. Profiles from west to east across the length of the park show that 

the depth of fills becomes greater from the west to the east (Figure 17). Similarly, depth 

to the historic elevation is greater in the south than in the north. The eastern edge of the 

park grounds was dramatically impacted by the removal of the elevated railroad tracks 

and their eventual relocation and burial in a pair of tunnels to the west. Construction in 

this area extended the bluff edge 50 to 100 m to the east. Importantly, these data suggest 

that shallow excavation or earth moving will have negligible effects on the topography 

that existed in 1948, as well as any potential earlier historic deposits.

Historical photographs show the impact of both the removal of existing 

buildings during the 1930s and 1940s as well as construction during the 1960s and 1970s. 

It is important to note that the overwhelming majority of 19th-and 20th-century St. 

Louis waterfront was completely built out. Buildings covered entire blocks leaving no 

places for archaeological deposits to accumulate (Sanborn 1907). These buildings also 

had basements that often were excavated 2-3 m below grade. Some buildings, like those 

spanning the block between First and Second Street had double basements where, to 

reach the lowest level of a building on Second Street, one would need to descend two 

floors since the lowest level was governed by the elevation of First Street (Figure 18). All 

told, the photographic and map data demonstrate that surficial deposits that may have 

survived the demolition process would have been removed or buried by the construction 

in the 1960s.

Further examination of the historical photographs demonstrates the impact of 

park construction activities on the historic landscape. Figure 19 shows a progression 

of photographs of the south entrance of the Old Cathedral. The Old Cathedral was 

constructed in 1834, and it can be assumed that the historic elevation of the building 

represents the elevation of the historic ground surface. The first photograph shows the 

west entrance in 1934. At least eight stairs were visible leading from the sidewalk to the 
22

JEFFERSON NATIONAL EXPANSION MEMORIAL

main entrance of the Cathedral at that time. By 1964, the topography of the Cathedral 

grounds and the surrounding landscape had been filled, leaving only two stairs 

exposed, as can be seen in the modern image on the right. In this instance, at least 

one meter of fill was brought in and deposited around the Cathedral and across the 

park grounds in this area. 

Finally, field investigation and documentary data suggest that, should any 

shallow archaeological deposits have survived the demolition and construction process, 

the final landscaping of the park would have removed any deposits with historical 

integrity. LeeDecker and colleagues’ (2012) West Entrance coring demonstrates that 

thick deposits consisting primarily of pulverized brick rubble and clay cover these 

locations. Similar results were found in the area of the north pond during geological 

coring monitored by Schilling (2013). Noble (1999) encountered like deposits near the 

southern end of the park. All told, these results suggest that similar rubble-laden fills are 

a widespread phenomenon. In the area where the present maintenance facility sits, deep 

(> 2m.), unweathered, brick-filled deposits were found 

Descriptions of the landscaping process help explain why such fill is so 

widespread, especially in areas where cutting took place rather than filling. The 

JEFF Cultural Landscape Report (Bellavia 1996) indicates that in addition to filling, 

contractors were required to provide a clean surface for planting and sod application. 

In doing so, the report suggests that sediments were excavated from across the ground 

surface, graded (presumably to remove large debris), and then redeposited. The grading 

and subsequent landscaping sculpted the grounds, sometimes cutting very deeply as in 

the instances of the north and south reflecting ponds, which are nearly 6 m below the 

1948 land surface.

Luther Ely Smith Square 

Recent geoarchaeological coring and historical research demonstrates a very low

potential for intact archaeological resources in LES Square. Prior to the park’s tenure, 

Block 85, the location of LES Square, was entirely built out. In 1907, an alley ran north to 

south at mid-block and a service drive ran from east to west across the northwest quarter 

of the block (Figure 20). Historical photographs (Figure 21) taken in the around 1940 

show the extent of excavation done by NPS in Block 85. Apparently, sediments from the 

entire block were removed during demolition.

Geoarchaeological testing by LeeDecker et al. (2012) confirms that much 

of the surface sediments in Block 85 are of recent origin and consist of redeposited 

construction rubble fill. The construction process would have obviated any intact 

archaeological materials. In one location, however, an undisturbed soil profile may exist. 

Core 5, located in the footprint of the service drive, revealed a shallow, potential argillic 

horizon within the sediment column. Argillic horizons form deeply (ca. >1 m) below 

the surface in this region and are a product of long-term in situ weathering. Because 

of the shallow depth to the argillic horizon, they suggest the surface horizons—which 

would have included archaeological materials—have been removed, perhaps as part of 

the demolition process. In this area, deeper archaeological deposits are not expected 

based on the degree of soil weathering. Overall, based on soil coring, shallow (< 1m.) 
23

ARCHAEOLOGICAL POTENTIAL

archaeological deposits are unlikely to exist in LES Square, as are more deeply buried 

deposits. Within the Bridge over the Highway, Third Street, and Memorial Drive APEs, 

there is a similar low potential for in situ, shallow archaeological resources. Historical 

maps show that these areas were nearly completely built out by 1900 with large brick 

buildings built over deep basements occupying the blocks.

Old Courthouse

The Old Courthouse and adjacent grounds are the most historically intact 

portions of the park. Since the final completion of the building in 1860, the grounds have 

remained largely free of deep ground disturbance. A progression of historical images 

shows the relative stability of both the area and surface level of the Old Courthouse 

block (Block 59). Monitoring by Noble (2007) suggests that there are numerous, 

undocumented, historic utility trenches running across the Courthouse grounds. The 

excavations of these may have negatively impacted archaeological resources in the area, 

but the locations and archaeological contexts of the trenches are unknown. 

Important for this discussion is that there are locations beneath the courthouse 

building that may have been preserved since at least 1860 when the building was 

completed. It is not known if the foundation of the courthouse was completely excavated 

and then filled, but the courthouse does not have a basement that is isomorphic with the 

First Floor. Some elements of the First Floor appear to have preserved the land surface 

as it would have existed in the middle 19th century. 

Finally, although the Old Courthouse was designed as a single large building, it 

incorporated elements of the earlier courthouse. Construction took place over 14 years, 

during which time numerous other temporary buildings were erected and demolished 

on the site (HSR, in press). Intact elements of the original courthouse may lie entombed 

within elements of the Old Courthouse. Even though investigations of the building’s 

structure are not strictly archaeological, any construction within the Old Courthouse 

needs to be carefully evaluated for its potential impact on possible earlier remnants of 

the original building. A ground-penetrating radar study by De Vore (2013) suggests that 

portions of the early north and south facades are preserved beneath the north and south 

transepts. Any work in these locations should be carefully planned to avoid these intact 

portions of the building, or the impacts of construction work that cannot be relocated 

should be mitigated.
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JEFFERSON NATIONAL EXPANSION MEMORIAL
25

SUMMARY AND RECOMMENDATIONS

The history of landscape change at JEFF is complex and often misunderstood. 

Because of the magnitude of past development and earth-moving activities, complete 

survey using traditional archaeological methods is not possible. This study has developed 

a model of landscape change using historical, archaeological, and geoarchaeological 

sources that is useful for making recommendations about the archaeological potential 

of JEFF, generally, and about the potential impacts of the CAR2015 project, specifically. 

Overall, there is little potential for shallow archaeological deposits, and 

preconstruction testing using shallow techniques like geophysical prospection or 

hand excavation is unwarranted—except in special circumstances. Projects that would 

require deep excavation should be evaluated on an individual basis as to their impacts, 

and the recommended archaeological treatment is to monitor the excavations. 

Individual aspects of the CAR2015 project will have differential effects on the 

park grounds. Major landscaping to improve the lawns would require the removal or 

reworking of the upper meter of soil across much of the park. This aspect of the project 

should be considered as having very little to no potential to impact archaeological 

resources. Similarly, archaeological materials are not expected in Areas 3-7, but deep 

excavations (> 1m) in these locations (including excavations for the West Entrance 

and the removal of the parking garage) should be monitored. Missouri Department of 

Transportation (MoDOT) and the Federal Highway Administration have a right-of-way 

within the park where roads encroach on park lands. Their right-of-way falls within 

Areas 3-7. MoDOT is the lead for cultural resources investigations with these projects. 

MoDOT recommends monitoring if Memorial Drive is removed and utilities are moved 

or removed. MWAC concurs and advises monitoring in this location also. Washington 

Avenue may also be removed, and this work should be monitored since the road is likely 

in its historic position. 

Work within LES Square is unlikely to encounter any in situ archaeological sites 

or materials, but the Old Courthouse grounds are more sensitive. When feasible, areas 

in and around the Old Courthouse should be tested before construction, otherwise 

ground-disturbing activities should be monitored for archaeological resources.
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JEFFERSON NATIONAL EXPANSION MEMORIAL
27

FIGURES

Figure 1. Jefferson National Expansion Memorial and the St. Louis riverfront.
28

JEFFERSON NATIONAL EXPANSION MEMORIAL

Figure 2. Map of St. Louis as laid out in 1764 (after Shewey 1892).

Figure 3. Corner of Main and Spruce, ca. 1850. Courtesy of Missouri History Museum, St. Louis, MO. 

Thomas Easterly Collection.
29

FIGURES

Figure 4. Looking southeast from the Old Courthouse, ca. 1890 (Missouri History Museum 

Collections).
30

JEFFERSON NATIONAL EXPANSION MEMORIAL

Figure 5. Backlot ca. 1940 (HABS/HAER survey, LOC)
31

FIGURES

Figure 6. Third and Washington, facing east at the entrance to the Eads Bridge in 1915. The 

northwest corner of JEFF is on the right. Note the trolley tracks and abundance of automobiles at this 

early date.

Figure 7. Aerial photo of the St. Louis riverfront, ca. 1930-1935. Vacant lots that once were built out 

can be seen at the foot of Chestnut Street (center right).
32

JEFFERSON NATIONAL EXPANSION MEMORIAL

Figure 8. A building under demolition ca. 1940 (HABS/HAER survey, LOC).

Figure 9. The deserted downtown district (HABS/HAER, LOC).
33

FIGURES

Figure 10. Site demolition. The photo was taken from near the corner of Market and 

Third Street. The new West Entrance will be built on this site. The Old Courthouse is 

in the background.
34

JEFFERSON NATIONAL EXPANSION MEMORIAL

Figure 11. Site demolition, notice salvaged building materials stockpiled along the riverfront. View is 

to the West.

Figure 12. JEFF during the early 1950s. Taken from the Eads Bridge facing south (Courtesy of the St. 

Louis Landmarks Association).
35

FIGURES

Figure 13. Relocation of the railroad. ca. 1960 (UMSL library).
36

JEFFERSON NATIONAL EXPANSION MEMORIAL

Figure 14. Photographs taken during the construction of the Arch. The scale of the excavation for 

the monument foundations and the underground museum removed fill down to bedrock across the 

central portion of the park.
37

FIGURES

Figure 15. CAR2015 project areas.

Figure 16. I-70/44 trench, the Old Cathedral is visible to the right (ca. 1964).
38

JEFFERSON NATIONAL EXPANSION MEMORIAL

Figure 17. Elevation change 1948-2012.
39

FIGURES

Figure 18. Selected profiles comparing 1948 surface to modern surface.
40

JEFFERSON NATIONAL EXPANSION MEMORIAL

Figure 19. The riverfront ca. 1940, taken from the Eads Bridge facing south (St. Louis Landmarks 

Association).

Figure 20. The south entrance of the Old Cathedral (left-1939 and right-2000).
41

FIGURES

Figure 21. LES square ca. 1907.

Figure 22. LES Square, 1940. Note the absence of demolition debris.
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JEFFERSON NATIONAL EXPANSION MEMORIAL
43

REFERENCES CITED

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 2010 Cultural Landscape Report, Jefferson National Expansion Memorial, St. 

Louis, Missouri. National Park Service, Midwest Regional Office.

Alt, Susan M.

 2006 Cultural Pluralism and Complexity: Analyzing a Cahokian Ritual Outpost, 

Department of Anthropology, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, Urbana.

Bellavia, R.M.

 1996 Cultural Landscape Report for Jefferson National Expansion Memorial, St. 

Louis, Missouri. National Park Service, Midwest Field Area, Great Plains Systems 

Support Office, Cultural Resources.

Bettis, E. Arthur, David W. Benn and Edwin R. Hajic

 2008 Landscape evolution, alluvial architecture, environmental history, and 

the archaeological record of the Upper Mississippi River Valley. Geomorphology

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Bradley, Zorro A.

 1976 Raising Sleeping Dogs. Manuscript on file, Midwest Archeological Center, 

Lincoln, Nebraska.

Brown, James

 1985 Long-Term Trends to Sedentism and the Emergence of Complexity in the 

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New York.

 1986 Early Ceramics and Culture: A Review of Interpretations. In Early 

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Evanston.

Brown, James, and Robert K. Vierra

 1983 What Happened in the Middle Archaic? Introduction to an Ecological 

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Brown, Sharon A.

 1984 Administrative History: Jefferson National Expansion Memorial National 

Historic Site 1935-1980. DOI-NPS, St. Louis.

Cleary, Patricia

 2011 The World, The Flesh, and The Devil. University of Missouri Press, 

Columbia, MO.
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Collins, James M.

 1997 Cahokia Settlement and Social Structures as Viewed from the ICT-II.

In Cahokia: Domination and Ideology in the Mississippian World, edited by T. R. 

Pauketat and T. E. Emerson, pp. 123-140. University of Nebraska Press, Lincoln.

Daniels, Karen L., Randall D. Dawdy and Michael J. Meyer

 2012 Title., in press.

Dawdy, Shannon Lee, editor

 2000 Creolization. Historical Archaeolgy 34(3):1-133.

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