September 1 1892 The first Stix store opened. Julius and Sigmond Baer started out with a small dry goods store in Fort Smith, Arkansas. They were joined by their brother-in-law, Aaron Fuller and decided to move to St. Louis. They asked for help and advice from civic leader Charles Stix. The Stix, Baer and Fuller store moved to its location on Washington between 6th and 7th streets in 1905. Dillards bought out Stix in 1984. 1894 Union Station opened with a gala in the Grand Hall, attended by about 20,000 invited guests. Architect Theodore C. Links building was twice as big as any railroad depot in the world. Closed in 1979, it was renovated and turned into a unique shopping area in 1985. It stands on the site of “Chouteau’s Pond.” An early settler, Joseph Taillon, built a mill and a dam across a stream the French called “La Petite Riviere.” Auguste Chouteau acquired the property and built a bigger dam. “Chouteau’s Pond” became polluted and was drained in 1849 but the old bed would provide an easy path for the new railroads. 1958 Southern Illinois University officials announced the college had selected a 26-hundred-acre site near Edwardsville for a proposed second campus. The purchase of the site depended on a $1.5 million fund raising drive by a group formed to secure a university for the East Side. 1966 At 2 p.m., the new I-270 Chain of Rocks Bridge over the Mississippi opened to traffic. Almost immediately, toll takers on the old bridge to the south said traffic was off by 80 percent. The new bridge was to have opened in November 1965. But construction was beset by labor troubles and other delays. 1975 A sellout crowd honored Bob Gibson on a special day at Busch Stadium. Gibson heard salutes by Commissioner Bowie Kuhn, August Busch Junior, and a congratulatory telegram from President Gerald Ford. Gibson had announced he would retire at the end of the season. 1976 Chesterfield Mall opened. It was built by Richard Jacobs. The Jacobs Company had originally planned to build a mall at Clarkson and Clayton Road. That was until Louis Sachs sold the developer on land he owned at Highway 40 and MO 340. Since the closure of Northwest Plaza, it is now the largest enclosed mall in the St. Louis area. 2013 St. Louis City Hall officially took control of the Police Department for the first time since 1861. On the eve of the Civil War, the pro-southern governor ordered a state takeover to keep Union sympathizers from gaining control. For the next 152 years, the department would be governed by a state approved board. On November 6, 2012, Missouri voters approved a return to local control.
Posted on: Mon, 01 Sep 2014 10:15:00 +0000
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