Former state and federal courthouse where the Dred Scott case originated, now part of Gateway Arch National Park for historical exhibits and events
General Information
Hours may vary during special events and holidays
How to Get There
From St. Louis (1 mi): Take I-44 east into downtown and continue toward Broadway andch grounds.
The Old St. Louis County Courthouse was built as a combination federal and state courthouse in St. Louis, Missouri. Missouri's tallest habitable building from 1864 to 1894, it is now part of Gateway Arch National Park and operated by the National Park Service for historical exhibits and events.
The courthouse building was the tallest building in Missouri and St. Louis until 1896 when Union Station was built. It remained the largest structure in the national monument until the Gateway Arch was built in 1965.
In 1846 the slave Dred Scott sued for his and his wife's freedom as they had been held as slaves in free states. All of the trials, including a Missouri Supreme Court hearing, were held in the Old Courthouse. The case was ultimately decided by the U.S. Supreme Court in 1857 Dred Scott v. Sandford, which ruled against the Scotts, saying they did not have grounds as citizens to sue.
This article uses material from the Wikipedia article "Old Courthouse (St. Louis)", which is released under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share-Alike License 3.0
