There was once great culture in the City of St. Louis.

At least a part of it remains. The Mississipian Culture, active from 800 to 1500 A.D., built several mounds throughout the St. Louis area.

The hub, of course, was the present site of Cahokia Mounds.

The City of St. Louis's rapid 19th century development claimed all but one mound.

This one (called the "Sugar Loaf Mound")stands on Ohio Avenue just adjacent to the South Broadway I-55 exit.



It's a shame the city did not recognize these mounds as the immensely important cultural markers that they were. We could have developed a minor tourism industry if only we still had a good reason to be nicknamed "Mound City". Old North St. Louis used to have several; and Cote Brilliante is French for "bright hill"--a descriptor of a onetime earthen mound near the intersection of M.L.K. and Kingshighway.

St. Louis just doesn't have the culture it used to.