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Gateway Arch Facts & Worksheets

Gateway Arch is a 630-foot-tall monument in St. Louis, Missouri, USA, and is the world's tallest arch.

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The Gateway Arch is a 630-foot-tall monument in St. Louis, Missouri, USA. It’s the world’s tallest arch and Missouri’s tallest accessible building, made of stainless steel and built in the shape of a weighted catenary arch. According to some sources, it is the tallest man-made structure in the Western Hemisphere.

See the fact file below for more information on the Gateway Arch, or you can download our 28-page Gateway Arch worksheet pack to utilize within the classroom or home environment.

Key Facts & Information

Historical Background

  • The Arch, also known as “The Gateway to the West,” was built as a memorial to the United States’ western territories and was formally dedicated to “the American people.” It is a UNESCO World Heritage Site in Gateway Arch National Park and is now an internationally known symbol of St. Louis, as well as a popular tourist spot.
  • Eero Saarinen, a Finnish-American architect, designed the Arch in 1947; construction started on February 12, 1963, and was accomplished on October 28, 1965, and cost $13 million. On June 10, 1967, the monument was dedicated to the public.
  • Having returned to St. Louis from the George Rogers Clark National Historical Park in Vincennes, Indiana, civic leader Luther Ely Smith saw the St. Louis riverfront area and envisioned that constructing a monument there would revitalize the riverfront and stimulate the economy.
  • He pitched his idea to Mayor Bernard Dickmann, who brought it up in a meeting with city leaders on December 15, 1933.
  • Many residents opposed depleting government funds for the cause. When “people would tell him we needed more practical things,” Smith’s daughter SaLees said, he will indeed respond that “spiritual things” were vitally valuable.
  • However, the suggestion to revitalize the riverfront was not novel, as previous projects had been attempted but failed to gain traction. The Jefferson memorial concept arose amid the Great Depression’s economic chaos and promised new jobs.
  • Members of the committee began raising people’s awareness by coordinating charity events and writing pamphlets. In addition to analyzing the ownership of the land they must have chosen, “approximately one-half mile in length from Third Street east to the present elevated railroad,” they engaged Congress by planning budgets and preparing bills.
  • President Roosevelt approved the memorial with Executive Order 7253 on December 21, 1935. The project’s motivation was twofold: westward expansion and job creation. Some taxpayers began filing lawsuits to stop the monument’s construction, which they called a “boondoggle.”
  • Using the $6.75 million grant from 1935 and $2.25 million in city bonds, the NPS acquired and demolished the heritage landmarks only within the historic sites through denouncement rather than purchase. Condemnation was complete by September 1938.
  • Many legal battles ensued, culminating on January 27, 1939, when the United States Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that the condemnation had been valid. On June 14, 1939, a total of $6.2 million was distributed to landowners. Demolition began on October 9, 1939, when Dickmann derived three bricks from a vacant warehouse.
  • In November 1944, Smith discussed the memorial’s design with Newton Drury, Director of the National Park Service, stating that the memorial should have an “elevating in divine and cultural value,” best expressed by “one central element: a single shaft, a construction, an arch, or another feature that will indeed signify American culture and civilization.”
  • Several proposals for moving the railroad tracks were made, including:
  • Bates-Ross. In a tunnel, tracks would cross the memorial site diagonally.
  • Bowen. Bates-Ross’ proposal is similar.
  • Hill-Tunnel. It would route the tracks in a tunnel beneath Second and First Streets, as proposed by Saarinen and NPS engineer Julian Spotts. 
  • Terminal La Beaume. It would lay “three tracks on a contained fill along the lines of the elevated tracks,” which Saarinen and the NPS oppose.
  • Levee-Tunnel. As proposed by Frank J. McDevitt, head of state of the St. Louis Board of Public Service, it would lower the tracks into a tunnel hidden by walls and landscaping.
  • Saarinen and city officials worked together to zone buildings in the area of the arch. 
  • Lewis Kitchen, a real estate developer, decided to build two 40-story buildings across from the arch in April 1959. Kitchen discussed the issue with officials in July, after the plan was criticized for potentially obstructing the arch.
  • On May 16, 1959, the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee received a request for $2.4911 million from St. Louis legislators, granting only $133,000. Wirth suggested that they re-apply for the funds in January 1960.
  • Regional Director Howard Baker received $888,000 as the city’s first subsidization for the project on March 10, 1959. On December 1, 1961, a total of $23,003,150 had already been authorized, with $19,657,483 already allocated and $3,345,667 still unappropriated.

Construction

  • To clarify the details of the arch construction, the bidding date was pushed back to January 22, 1962, from December 20, 1961. Bidding invitations were sent to approximately 50 corporates that had asked about the construction requirements.
  • MacDonald Construction Co. set up a 30-foot tower for watchers and provided detailed project accounts. A million people came to watch the progress in 1963, and by 1964, local radio stations were broadcasting when massive slabs of steel were to be brought up into place.
  • According to Stan Wolf, project manager at MacDonald Construction Co., a 62-story building is more accessible to construct than the arch: “In a building, everything is straight up, one thing on top of another, whereas in this arch, everything is curved.”
  • Furthermore, civil rights activists saw the construction of the arch as a signifier of racial prejudice. On July 14, 1964, during workers’ lunchtime, civil rights protesters Percy Green and Richard Daly, both members of Congress of Racial Equality, climbed 125 feet up the northern leg of the arch to “expose the fact that that federal money was being utilized to establish a national monument that has been racially going to discriminate against black contractors as well as skilled black workers.”
  • As of June 1964, the project had created fewer than 100 jobs, rather than the 5,000 expected. However, the project sparked other lakefront recovery efforts totaling $150 million.
  • The memorial was completed in June 1976 because of federal funding: “the statue of Thomas Jefferson was unveiled, the Museum of Westward Expansion was previewed, a theater under the Arch was dedicated in honor of Mayor Raymond Tucker, and the catenary-like curving staircases from the Arch down to the levee were built.”

Features and Aspects

  • The arch’s width and height are 630 feet (192 m). The arch is the world’s highest monument in the United States and the tallest stainless steel monument.
  • The arch’s legs have equilateral triangle cross-sections that narrow from 54 feet (16 m) per side at the bases to 17 feet (5.2 m) per side at the top. Each wall is made up of a stainless steel skin that covers a sandwich of two carbon-steel walls with concrete in the center from ground level to 300 feet (91 m) and carbon steel to the peak.
  • Furthermore, the arch is hollow to cater to a one-of-a-kind tram system that transports tourists to a viewing platform at the top.
  • The first proposal to highlight the arch in the evening was revealed on May 18, 1966. However, the plan was never realized. The Gateway Foundation in St. Louis approved funding for an arch lighting system in July 1998, agreeing to cover the costs of the equipment, installation, and maintenance.
  • On October 5, 2004, the United States Senate approved a bill allowing the arch to be illuminated in pink in honor of Breast Cancer Awareness Month. Senators Jim Talent and Kit Bond’s efforts and Estee Lauder and May Department Store Co. had both advocated for the cause.

Public Access

  • Three million visitors were anticipated to visit the arch after its completion in April 1965; 619,763 people saw the top of the arch in its first year of operation. On January 15, 1969, a tourist from Nashville, Tennessee, became the one-millionth individual to reach the observation area.
  • On August 24, 1979, the ten-millionth person climbed to the top. The arch was ranked 4th on a list of the “most-visited man-made attractions” in 1974. 
  • The Gateway Arch is among the most popular visitor attractions in the world, including over four million tourist arrivals per year, one million of whom climb to the top. On June 2, 1987, the arch was designated a National Historic Landmark and is also on the National Register of Historic Places.
  • For example, the underground visitor center for the arch was developed as a part of the National Park Service’s Mission 66 program. The 70,000-square-foot center is situated between the legs of the arch.
  • Travelers depart the tram compartment and ascend a slight grade to access the observation area near the top of the Arch. This arched deck, which would be over 65 feet long and 7 feet wide, can hold up to 160 people, equivalent to four trams.

Symbolism and Culture

  • The arch was built as a memorial to the United States’ westward expansion, and it represents “the pioneer spirit of the men and women who won the West, and those of a later day to strive on other frontiers.” It has become an iconic image of St. Louis, appearing in many aspects of city culture. 
  • Three years after the monument dedication, the St. Louis phone book listed 65 businesses with the word “Gateway” in their name and 17 with the word “Arch.” Arches could also be seen above petrol stations and drive-in fast food joints.
  • Its futuristic design has been interpreted as a symbol of the automobile age, along with the surrounding automobile-centric urban and freeway facilities, encouraging an innovative future of a new accessible frontier.
  • This outlook has continued with the name and logo of the future Lunar Gateway, which will serve as a gateway to the Moon and Mars, borrowing the iconic shape and meaning of the Gateway Arch.

Gateway Arch Worksheets

This fantastic bundle includes everything you need to know about the Gateway Arch across 28 in-depth pages. These are ready-to-use worksheets that are perfect for teaching kids about the Gateway Arch, which is a 630-foot-tall monument in St. Louis, Missouri, USA and is the world’s tallest arch.

Complete List of Included Worksheets

Below is a list of all the worksheets included in this document.

  1. Gateway Arch Facts 
  2. Determine the History
  3. The Proposal
  4. Guess the Gibberish
  5. #2Fold
  6. The National Park
  7. The Major Incidents
  8. ARCH SYMBOL
  9. Tour in Gateway Arch
  10. Would You Rather?
  11. Mandala Arch

Frequently Asked Questions

What makes the Gateway Arch so special?

For fifty years, people around the country have felt awe when they see the Gateway Arch. The Arch is tall and was made by a man named Eero Saarinen. It is a reminder of Thomas Jefferson’s vision and how St. Louis was important in our country’s westward expansion.

Why is it called the Gateway Arch?

The Gateway Arch, the iconic monument in St. Louis, Missouri, standing tall along the west bank of the Mississippi River, is a proud reminder of our city’s role as “Gateway to the West” during America’s 19th-century expansion era.

Is Gateway Arch the smallest national park?

Gateway Arch National Park is the smallest national park in the United States and only has 91 acres. Even so, there are plenty of things for visitors to see and do there.

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Use With Any Curriculum

These worksheets have been specifically designed for use with any international curriculum. You can use these worksheets as-is, or edit them using Google Slides to make them more specific to your own student ability levels and curriculum standards.

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