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The history of St. Louis, Missouri, from 1905 to 1980 saw declines in population and economic basis, particularly after World War II. Although St. Louis made civic improvements in the 1920s and enacted pollution controls in the 1930s, suburban growth accelerated and the city population fell dramatically from the 1950s to the 1980s. Like many urban areas, St. Louis experienced high unemployment during the Great Depression, then expanded its industrial base during World War II. The city became home to the Jefferson National Expansion Memorial during the 1930s, and during the 1960s the Gateway Arch was built on the memorial grounds. St. Louis City and St. Louis County made multiple attempts at consolidation during the period, but none were particularly successful. Despite attempts at urban renewal that included public housing projects such as the Pruitt-Igoe complex, and the city continued to lose population to county cities. ==Civic improvements and pollution control== Starting in 1903, local civic groups began building small parks and playgrounds in deteriorating residential neighborhoods to promote free play and directed activities among youth; by 1909, St. Louis had gained 16 parks totaling more than 150 acres.〔Primm (1998), 397.〕 Among the progressive social reformers on the city parks committee during this time was Charlotte Rumbold, who later was an officer of the Playground Association of America with Jane Addams.〔 To encourage physical activity, Parks Commissioner Philip Scanlan ordered the construction of baseball fields and tennis courts in major St. Louis parks.〔Primm (1998), 398.〕 Scanlan's successor, Dwight F. Davis, continued the development of recreational facilities during the early 1910s, expanding tennis facilities in particular.〔Primm (1998), 406.〕 Davis also ordered construction of a public 18-hole golf course in northwest Forest Park, replacing an earlier semi-private 9-hole course.〔Primm (1998), 407.〕 A zoo was first established during the 1870s at Fairground Park, but it closed in 1891 and its animals were sold to local collectors who then began housing them in Forest Park.〔 Starting in 1910, the St. Louis Zoological Society was formed to collect money to purchase animals and lobby the city to reopen a zoo.〔Primm (1998), 408.〕 After the election of Henry Kiel as mayor in 1913 (who supported the creation of the zoo), St. Louis supplied 77 acres of land in Forest Park for the creation of a zoo, and in October 1916, a zoo tax was passed to provide continual maintenance for the facility.〔 In 1919, the zoo completed its bear pits, which were designed with the assistance of Carl Hagenbeck.〔Primm (1998), 409.〕 In 1923, St. Louis passed an $87 million bond issue to fund civic improvements, the largest such city debt issue in the country at the time.〔Tranel (2007), 90.〕 The improvements came to infrastructure, parks, public safety, hospitals, and a downtown auditorium and plaza (known as Kiel Auditorium and Aloe Plaza).〔 The bond issue also paid for the first ten blocks of what would become known as the Gateway Mall, a one-block wide park extending nearly uninterrupted from the riverfront some twenty blocks.〔Garvin (2002), 87.〕 Since the 1890s, the St. Louis Board of Health had passed anti-smoke regulations, but little reduction was made in the problem of coal smoke pollution.〔Primm (1998), 447.〕 In 1906, the St. Louis Public Library was forced to repair its collection due to smoke damage, by 1910 smoke pollution had killed trees in Forest Park, and during the 1920s, evergreens no longer grew near the city and the Missouri Botanical Garden was considering a move away from the city.〔Primm (1998), 448.〕 Studies revealed that in 1926, St. Louis had an annual soot deposit of 870 tons per square mile, far above Chicago and Pittsburgh.〔Primm (1998), 449.〕 Despite efforts at reducing pollution by washing coal prior to burning it, St. Louis smog continued unabated.〔 Among the worst episodes was the 1939 St. Louis smog, which blackened the sky during the day of November 28 and lasted for three weeks.〔 Only a city-wide ban in December 1939 on burning low-quality Illinois coal made a significant change in the pollution, forcing homeowners and businesses alike to switch to cleaner-burning Arkansas coal.〔 The result of the ban was significant: during the winter of 1939-40, St. Louis experienced 177 hours of thick smoke pollution, while in the winter of 1940-1941, only 17 hours of thick smoke was reported.〔Primm (1998), 450.〕 In addition, the Laclede Gas Company began to supply cleaner-burning natural gas to customers starting in 1941, which largely rectified the problem of smoke pollution by the late 1940s.〔 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「History of St. Louis (1905–80)」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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