The last historical stop on my St. Louis road trip was the St. Louis Soldiers and Sailors Museum. I had driven past in a number of times in the past, but it always seemed to be closed. This time, I made it a point to go there and check it out.
The museum started as a WWI museum for the city of St Louis, to honor those locals that had served in that conflict. It was completed on the eve of WWII, which kind of shows you how little Americans were thinking of possible war at that time in the country’s history.
After WWII, the museum was changed into a museum celebrating the service and sacrifice of soldiers from the St Louis area in all conflicts going forward. As such, while it starts with WWI, it continues to service today.
The museum is located in the center of the city of St Louis Missouri. It sits on its own city block and has two towers, which are separated by a large black granite memorial. The first building covers WWI and the second covers the other conflicts and the history of the museum.
The overall museum is not very large, so it makes a nice stop in the morning or afternoon and can fit with other site seeing in St Louis.
- Mantueffel