In commemoration of the 60th anniversary of the historic Gateway Arch, Gateway Arch National Park has curated Hey, There’s the Arch!, a new exhibition at the Old Courthouse (11 N. 4th) that celebrates the Arch as a unifying identifier of the city and an ongoing source of local pride, culture, and identity.
Jennifer Clark, acting program manager for museum services and interpretation at Gateway Arch National Park, describes the quirky exhibition name as a tribute to the local “phenomenon” of seeing the Arch.
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“Everybody in St. Louis has experienced driving around, and then you get this unexpected view, and [exclaim] ‘Hey, there’s the Arch!’” she says.
In its decades as part of the local landscape, the Arch has become more than a structure in a skyline, appearing on magazine covers, business logos, and community organizations’ branding. One hallmark of the exhibition is a wall of approximately 150 logos incorporating the Arch, contributed by local businesses and community organizations, that highlight the structure as a key part of our local identity.
The exhibition also invites viewers to contribute to our collective memory of the Arch on an ongoing basis. In 2015, the Missouri Historical Museum gathered a collection of notecards sharing memories of the Arch, ranging from emotional moments to silly stories. The Old Courthouse now features a select number of the notecards as part of Hey There’s the Arch, while also inviting people to contribute their own memories. “Almost everybody in town has some kind of Arch story, and we want to hear it,” Clark says. Each story gives a new life to the Arch, positioning it as a landmark that is constantly evolving and shaping local culture.
David Newmann, acting museum curator, noted that the exhibition gives viewers a walk through time to learn about St. Louis before the Arch. Artifacts from historic St. Louis, like vestiges from the once-booming cast-iron industry and a telegram from President Franklin Delano Roosevelt celebrating the creation of the park, highlight the ways in which the city shaped the creation of the Arch. Modern artifacts on display include a hat and puck from the St. Louis Blues, a signed copy of Percy Jackson novel The Lightning Thief featuring St. Louis, and Imo’s pizza boxes.
“We’re really hoping that visitors will get a sense of how the Arch’s design permeated St. Louis’ culture…it’s an evolving piece of public artwork,” Newman says.
Hey, There’s The Arch, located in the recently renovated Old Courthouse, will be open from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. seven days a week until October 28, 2026. Entry is free for all visitors.
