St. Louis has a famous monument known as the Gateway Arch that sits in a national park formerly known as Jefferson National Expansion Memorial, but was later renamed after the Gateway Arch. The park is located near a bridge over the Mississippi River that connect Missouri to Illinois. One important question is why was the Gateway Arch build? The arch was the chosen winning design of a nationwide competition to design the memorial. Around 1933, someone envisioned that building a memorial on the riverfront would simultaneously revive the riverfront and stimulate the economy. The national park and Gateway Arch are meant to commemorate Jefferson’s Louisiana Purchase and his vision for westward expansion. The Gateway Arch is an important and stunning piece of architecture that was a significant feat, taking three years to complete. Underneath the arch is a museum that covers more than 200 years’ worth of history regarding the westward expansion that the arch was built to represent.