Ice cream timeline:
The oldest ice cream parlor in America dates back to the 1860s, small scale of course but with more modern refrigeration came an uptake in popularity, but it was far from being a common product, until the 1904 world’s fair allowed for a culmination of electrical power and sudden demand in a large city like saint louis, the Pevely dairy company (which opened in the 1880s as a butter/ milk route in saint louis) had its first site opened in 1915 which later included an ice cream manufacturer in 1916. The Velvet freeze ice cream company opened in 1934. These are the two oldest ice cream manufacturers in the saint louis region, and what do they have in common? They opened after the worlds fair.
Water filtration timeline:
Until 1831 saint louis relied on springs and cisterns for water, as the population grew the city contracted water supply channels to be built in 1835. The efforts to purify the water ended for the most part in failure. These are accounts of saint louis residents in 1858 describing the water.
“St. Louis is supplied with water from the Mississippi River. A steam engine of considerable power draws it from the river and forces it to the reservoir. The water is taken out in the upper part of the City, above the entrance of any sewers, at a place where the river is deepest and the current is swiftest, and therefore the water taken out is the purest that can be obtained.”
“The appearance of the water when first taken from the river, or when the supply from the reservoir has not had time to settle, is rather muddy and thick, from a great mixture of light sandy particles, and strangers generally dislike it; but it soon settles on becoming stationary, and then is very palatable, and persons soon become fond of it–preferring it to any other water.”
Source: stlwater.com/history2.php
Another scheme at water purification was introduced in 1865, it consisted of a pumping station, settling basins, and filter beds. The filtered water to be conducted by gravity in a conduit to Baden, where a High service station was to pump it to a reservoir.
Bissells point pump station went into effect in 1871, providing marginally cleaner water spearheaded by Robert Kirkwood, a civil engineer that had high praise for his works in new York and on railroads.
Finally, for the worlds fair they hired john Wixford, a chemist, to see if they can make the Quincy process more efficient in order to clear the water for the worlds fair, he found that milk of lime slaked at 190 degrees was efficient and he patented the process in the united states and great Britain. This resulted in a clear cascading waterfall that was central to the fairs layout.
In 1908 a new coagulant house was built to automate and store the discharges of ferrous sulfate and slaked lime.
Edward wall, water commissioner from 1911 to 1925 proposed a secondary coagulation and filtration process as an add on to Wixfords process in 1911
Electricity timeline:
Union Electric Company was founded on May 20, 1902 with only a few employees and 2,000 customers. The World’s Fair in 1904 allowed for the company to expand tremendously and expose millions of people to brilliant lighting display. Many of them had never seen electric lights before.
In 1913 Union Electric began using hydroelectric power, buying power generated by the new Keokuk Dam which allowed UE to expand into rural areas.
The company then built a second hyro-electric dam on the Osage River in Central Missouri. This dam was completed in 1933 and forms the Lake of the Ozarks.
Union Electric and CIPSCO Incorporated, parent of Central Illinois Public Service Company, merged in December 1997, creating Ameren Corporation.
Source: St. Louis Historic Preservation