In 1948, Eero Saarinen won a contest to build a special monument to the spirit of westward expansion in St. Louis, Missouri. St. Louis was the perfect place for such a monument. It was the starting point of the 1804 Lewis and Clark journey. On this journey, William Clark and Meriwether Lewis explored the American west.

Saarinen drew up plans for a 630-foot-tall steel arch on the banks of the Mississippi River, which flows through St. Louis. On October 28, 1965, 17 years after the project started, and four years after Saarinen himself died, the arch was completed.

Today, the Gateway Arch is one of America’s most famous symbols. It is also America’s tallest monument and the world’s tallest arch. Four million people visit the arch each year.

Why was St. Louis a good place for the Gateway Arch?
1. It was the home of Eero Saarinen
2. The Arch would be built on the river
3. St. Louis is a city important in westward expansion
4. Four million people visit it each year
What is NOT true about the Gateway Arch?
1. It is 630 feet tall
2. Four million people visit it every year
3. It is the tallest monument in the world
4. Eero Saarinen died four years after the arch was completed
If an answer is “four million people visit each year,” what could the question be?
1. Why was the Gateway Arch built on the Mississippi River?
2. How do you know that people think the arch is important?
3. How many people did it take to build the Gateway Arch?
4. How many people live in St. Louis?
What did Lewis and Clark have to do with westward expansion?
1. They were from St. Louis
2. They explored land that would be involved in westward expansion
3. They explored the land in which the Gateway Arch would be built on
4. They built a monument to the spirit of westward expansion