City of St Louis Metropolitan Police Department
City of Saint Louis Missouri
A horse! a horse! my kingdom for a horse !
Shakespeare "King Richard III" Act V, Scene 4, 1.7
In 1867 the Saint Louis Police Department saw the need to begin the first Police Mounted Patrol ,
and formed under the direction of Chief William Finn with the goal to prevent robberies on the outshirs of the city .
Each Police District Police Station and sub station had a Police Horse Stable in the City of Saint Louis .
In 1870 the first Mounted Patrol District was at Laclede and Manchester near the Wedge House Hotel .
During this period the city boundary extended only to Jefferson Avenue,
but outside this boundary were many groups of highwaymen and bandits who would
rob farmers and other merchants on their way to the city to sell goods .
After robbing them, the thieves would hide the loot in the many caves that lined the area .
Since the thieves restricted their activity to night time,
the idea of having mounted officers patrol the outskirts of the city was an effort to combat these crimes .
It appears that the mounted patrol was successful in stopping these night robberies.
Photos
of
Saint Louis Mounted Police Station and Stable
Forest Park Division
Saint Louis Missouri
Saint Louis Mounted Police Station and Stable
Forest Park Division in Forest Park on Clayton Avenue
Saint Louis Missouri .
Photo circa 1902
Built 1893 and police operations began August 1, 1893 and the police building had steam heat .
The original photo from 1902 is a foldout four pages wide with 54 police officers on their horses .
The police officer on the left of the Mounted Police Building is Captain G. T. McNamer, Commander of the Mounted Patrol in 1902 .
In 1925 the size of the Mounted Police began to be reduced because of the use of automobiles .
In 1936 only the Traffic Division used 12 horses housed at the Traffic Division Stables at Fifteenth and Spruce .
On April 9, 1948 the era of the Mounted Police came to an end and was abolished .
This Saint Louis Mounted Police Station and Stable building in Forest Park was razed at some unknown date
and the area became space for the McDonnell Planetarium which was completed in 1963 .
Photo circa 1900
Built 1893
Saint Louis Mounted Police Station and Stable
Forest Park Division
Saint Louis Missouri .
Missouri History Museum
Forest Park Saint Louis Mounted Police Station in 1900
There was a sub-station in Forest Park at the center, Main Drive and Union .
Missouri History Museum
Forest Park Mounted Police Sub Station in 1892
History's Time Portal to Old St. Louis Penny Post Card of the
Mounted Police Station in the early days of Forest Park
Photo
of
Mounted Patrol Command Officers
Saint Louis Missouri
May 10, 1934 .
Photo
of
Section 1 District Police Mounted Station
2720 Clifton
Saint Louis Missouri
Erected 1896 .
Photo circa 2007
Served as the Section 1 (Clifton Heights or Second ) District Mounted Police Station till about 1937 .
On the right where a building addition now stands is where the mounted stable was .
This was a sub-station of the Mounted Police Station in Forest Park on Clayton Avenue and
bounded on the West and South by the City Limits,
on the East by Sharp, Carondelet Park, and Grand to Chippewa then west to Kingshighway to Lindell,
on the North along Lindell to the City Limits .
Photo
of
Section 2 District Police Mounted Station
8328 North Broadway
Saint Louis Missouri
Erected 1896 .
photo circa early 1900s
Served as the Section 2 ( Baden ) Mounted Police Station till 1928 when it was closed .
This was a sub-station of the Mounted Police Station in Forest Park on Clayton Avenue and
bounded on the West by the City Limits,
on the East by the Mississippi River,
on the South by North Market,
on the North along Humboldt, Broadway, Taylor and Margaretta and Cora and Natural Bridge .
In 1971 when the Mounted Patrol Police returned to Forest Park the original ten horses of the Mounted Police Unit were named
Amigo, Blue Badge, Bullet, Cinder, Deputy, Mr. Duke, Ranger, Sarge, Sentry and Siren
by five-year-old Saint Louis kindergarten student Elaine Marie Sullivan, 3614 Alberta Street .
The Saint Louis Mounted Police returned to Forest Park April 3, 1971
due to a public outcry for more police protection in Forest Park as it was stated
" Forest Park is no longer the pastoral woodland which generations of Saint Louisans have enjoyed and have been proud of .
It has become a part of the urban jungle . It must be reclaimed " .
This building was closed August 13, 2009 due to environmental contaminations .
Where are the Mounted Patrol Horses ?
Are the Horses going to return to the Park ?
The St Louis Metropolitan Police Mounted patrol will be moving in with the City Park Rangers' horses in Forest Park.
The Parks Department is building a small barn adjacent to the Park Rangers' Horse Barn for the Department's horses
in the maintenance section of Forest Park near Interstate 64 and Hampton Avenue.
Just like 1867, the Police Mounted Patrol was established to prevent crimes,
and for some reason the Police Mounted Patrol works, just like 1867 and 1971 and today ,
let the City Saint Louis forever keep the Police Mounted Patrol in Forest Park and the City of Saint Louis !
Photo circa 2008
Built in 1919 to serve aeroplanes
Saint Louis Mounted Police Station and Stable
Forest Park Division
Saint Louis Missouri .
Photo circa 2008
This building once served as a hanger for the City's first commercial airport .
Its adjoining 100 acre landing field known as "Aviation Field" served private aeroplanes
as well as aircraft of the U.S. Aerial Mail Service .
Forest Park has been the site for Aeronautical activity since 1907,
and
that tradition continues today with the yearly balloon races .
Visit America's Greatest Urban Public Park at Forest Park Forever Web Site
Visit City Saint Louis Forest Park Web Site
1914 Map of Forest Park
Mounted Police Station is lower left corner on Clayton .
1884 Description of Forest Park by Patrolman H. M. Jones
Forest Park is 4 ½ miles due west from the Court House . It has a frontage of one mile on King's Highway, and depth westwardly in parallel of 2 miles .
It is the principal park of the city . The Wabash Road runs regular trains daily to the park, and it can be reached by the West End Narrow Gauge Road,
also, which has its depot on Olive street just west of Grand avenue . The Forest Park and Lindell Boulevards, which are fashionable drives, connect
the resort with the heart of the city . The former is 150 feet wide and the latter 194 feet wide . If the visitor can afford it he should hire a carriage and
make the trip to and from the Park by way of these boulevards . Forest Park was established in 1875 and is not completed . It comprises 1371 acres,
and although the gardener's art has not given its beautifying touches to this entire immense area, the rolling ground, the winding steams, the rustic bridge,
the pagodas, summer-houses and thousand and one other little spots of interest present a combination of scenery that is absolutely lovely to look upon .
One lake covers 50 acres; the drives are nicely laid out, and refreshment may be had a restaurant within the park .
Missouri History Museum
1895 Cottage Restaurant Forest Park
1884 Description of Fair Grounds and Zoological Garden by Patrolman H. M. Jones
The Fair Gounds, which include the Zoological Garden, are situated on Grand avenue, between the Natural Bridge Road and Kossuth avenue,
and lie three and one-half miles northwest of the Court House . They embrace 83 acres, beautifully laid out in walks and drives, and where
handsomely designed buildings are not dotting the ground, spreading shade trees, cool fountains or small lakes afford the visitor delight .
The great Fair occurs here during the first week of each October, and on the Tuesday night of this week the famous Veiled Prophets give their
gorgeous street pageant . Near the center of the grounds is the Amphi-theatre, the largest in the United States, which comfortably seats 25,000
in sight of the Arena, and can accommodate 25,000 on the promenade in the rear of the seats, from which space also all parts of the ring are visible .
Horses are speeded in this ring, and cattle exhibited in the contests for premiums . Under the management of Mr. Charles Green,
President of the Fair Association, the grounds have been beautified and improved to a surprising extent . The magnificent new entrance of brick
and cut stone at the southeast corner of the grounds is one of his improvements, and there are many others, which have made the place
the great pleasure resort of ladies and children ever since Mr. Green assumed the management . The Zoological Gardens within the grounds
include the rarest types of wild and domestic animals . The earth, the air and sea contribute their most curious creatures to the collection,
which is not surpassed anywhere this side of Europe . Each class has a building set apart for itself, the carnivore or flesh-devouring beasts
having their own quarters; the monkeys, theirs; the bears, theirs; the birds a place of their own, and so on . These buildings are finished
in the highest style of modern architecture, and are of brick and stone . They are equal to the buildings to be seen in the
Royal Zoological Garden of England . The Grounds and Gardens are open all year round . The admission fee is twenty-five cents .
The Cass avenue, Locust street, red cars on Pine street, the Franklin avenue, and Jefferson avenue cars
all carry passengers to the main gate for five cents .
Photo
of
St. Louis Jockey Horse Racing Track
Fair Grounds Park
Saint Louis Missouri
Photo circa 1902
The Saint Louis Jockey Club in 1883 was organized with racing on an old half mile track in Fair Grounds Park .
In 1885, a new mile track was opened, with a grandstand seating 15,000 and an elaborate new club building .
The club house was a three-story structure in high Victorian style, with a high-peaked slate roof, gables,
towers, cupola, and gentlemen’s amenities like a bowling alley and billiard room .
Elegantly appointed, with paneled walls, stained glass, ornamental urns, and oriental rugs,
the Jockey Club was considered one of the finest buildings of its type in the country .
Grandstand seating was available for other racing fans, who enjoyed the sight of elephants pulling sledges to smooth the track.
The track's finest hour occurred in 1886 when St. Louis hosted the National Derby .
In 1905, Joseph A. Folk campaigned for Governor on a platform for reform
and
the duties of a duly elected official to protect the public from the local politician .
Governor Joseph A. Folk election delivered a deathblow to horse racing .
That same year 1905 the Jockey Club closed its track, and the clubhouse and the grandstand were demolished .
"Holy Joe"
Read the book about 1904 Political Control of Police in Saint Louis This could be a lesson plan for today about what happens when there is State Control verse City Control of the Police Department .
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