Friday, May 17, 2013

Correction: These Sunken Gardens aren't those Sunken Gardens

A year ago I compared a photograph form the 1904 St. Louis World's Fair to a 1914 postcard of the construction of the St. Louis City Public Library headquarters.


I decided based on the similar design of the pathways and gardens, that the Sunken Gardens behind the library were likely the same Sunken Gardens from the Fair. (Actually, I didn't use the word likely. I should have hedged my bets.)

According to this map of the fairgrounds, the Sunken Gardens were in Forest Park. (Most of the fair was, and I should  have recalled this fact.) If you enlarge the image, you can see it in the center-left, by the northwest corner of the lagoon. Between the Liberal Arts building and the Mines and Metallurgy building. (D2)

The library has a new gallery of images from their construction, including this photo taken in 1908, indicating that their Sunken Gardens were created at the same time the library was built.



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