St. Louis’ historic center for law and order is back—and this time, it has air conditioning.
After extensive renovations, the Old Courthouse in downtown St. Louis is set for a grand reopening on May 3. The enhancements are the final phase of the $380 million CityArchRiver Project and include accessibility improvements such as ramps and rails, four new exhibits exploring African American and civil rights history in St. Louis, and modernization of the building that includes heating, cooling, and an elevator for the first time in its history.
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The courthouse, which was originally built in phases between 1832 and 1862, has been closed to the public since 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the renovations. After five years of design work and 18 months of construction, Gateway Arch National Park Superintendent Jeremy Sweat says the team accomplished its goal of making the building more modern and accessible, while protecting the historic integrity of the structure and better connecting visitors with its important history.
The influential history Sweat details includes a probate court located inside the courthouse that pre-dated the Civil War. “Just like today, property was auctioned off because of tax debt or bankruptcies, but in those years before the Civil War, those property sales included not only farm [tools] and household goods, they also included enslaved people and their families, who were auctioned off on the steps of this building,” Sweat says.
St. Louis’ Old Courthouse, Sweat continues, is also where, in 1859, Ulysses S. Grant signed the manumission paper freeing William Jones from enslavement; where Dred and Harriet Scott began their fight for freedom, culminating in one of the “most infamous Supreme Court cases in our nation’s history”; where one of one of the earliest American women’s suffrage cases, 1873’s Virginia Minor trial, took place; and where Louis Brandeis, the nation’s first Jewish Supreme Court justice, was admitted to the Missouri Bar.
“This history is important not only to the city and the region, but to our entire country; the Old Courthouse is a physical reminder of those times where we fell short of our vision for equality, justice, and liberty, but it’s also a reminder of how far we’ve come as a nation in expanding justice and equality for Americans,” Sweat adds.
Pam Sanfilippo, Gateway Arch National Park program manager, museum services and interpretation, explains that the new exhibits, including an updated take on the courthouse’s popular mock trial experience, bring to life St. Louis’ history in a way that is meaningful to her–and she hopes to all visitors. The Old Courthouse has long been a popular field trip destination for local students, and Sanfilippo recommends ages third grade and up for the new exhibits, given the complexity of the stories.
“Each one connects to me in a different way,” Sanfilippo says. “For example, ‘Designed for Justice’ shows how this building was designed for justice—and yet not everybody who entered these doors received justice. I think that’s an important story to tell.”
Sanfilippo adds that “See You in Court” provides guests to the courthouse an understanding how the court system works in our society and how important they are for settling disputes peacefully. “It’s also about how important this building was in St. Louis’ early years, she says. “It was kind of that symbol of law and order here–that we’re not just the Wild West.”
“Pathways to Freedom,” Sanfilippo explains, is centered on understanding the African American experience then, and how that influences our current culture. Another exhibit offers context on the story of Dred and Harriet Scott. Says Sanfilippo, “Their perseverance and the courage it took for them to continue their fight and eventually getting their freedom, although not through the courts, it’s just inspirational.”
The Gateway Arch National Park and Gateway Arch National Park Foundation will host a free “Journey to Justice” Festival to celebrate the reopening and ribbon-cutting on May 3 from 11 a.m.–3 p.m. The theme for the festival was designed by visual artist Cbabi Bayoc through a partnership with Gateway Arch Park Foundation, and the public can enjoy local vendors, food trucks, activity booths, giveaways, and an interactive, educational “passport” program. Entertainment will include DJ Nico Marie and Brian Owens, as well as “fountain-side” chats with Bayoc, St. Louis native and actress Jenifer Lewis, and Lynne Jackson, great-great-granddaughter of Dred and Harriet Scott.
“This is a civil rights site, a women’s rights site, and a human rights site, and I look forward to sharing it with visitors from around the nation and around the world starting on May 3,” Sweat says.
