Louis lies within the fertile American Bottom area of the present day Metro-East area of St. Louis, but most were lost to 19th-century development and later roadbuilding.Įast St. Before the Civil War, settlers reported up to 50 mounds in the area that became East St. The center of this culture was the urban complex of Cahokia, located to the north of present-day East St. The Mississippian culture rulers organized thousands of workers to construct complex earthwork mounds at what later became St. Native Americans had long inhabited both sides of the Mississippi River. Louis, it shoots water to a height of 630 feet (190 m), the same height as the arch. Designed to complement the Gateway Arch across the river in St. Martin Memorial Park, the fountain is the second-tallest in the world. As of the 2020 census, the city had a population of 18,469, less than one-quarter of the 1950 census and a decline of almost one third since 2010.Ī recent addition to the city's waterfront is the Gateway Geyser. Louis was the fourth-largest city in Illinois when its population peaked at 82,366.

Louis was severely affected by the loss of jobs due to the flight of the population to the suburbs during the riots of the late 1960s. Once a bustling industrial center, like many cities in the Rust Belt, East St. Louis is in the Metro-East region of Southern Illinois. Louis, Missouri, and the Gateway Arch National Park. It is directly across the Mississippi River from downtown St.

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