Beaumont High School - Caduceus Yearbook (St Louis, MO)

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if --. -0 'TN Q3 13515 H. 7 ,iii C J T ' :Q u ilfitif r sffi 4Qvi7x'r?iFP fs - ' it vit ' e, , sfrfcfyt 's eff ' T H E C A D U C E. U S F AIRGROUNDS PARK By HELEN KAHL HAT familiar spot, the one which ggi' we see and-passlevery school day, the one which gives our Beaumont a beautiful foreground, that spot we call The Fairgrounds, what do we know of its history? Perhaps we have never thought of Fairgrounds Park as any- thing but a park, extending from Grand to Fair and from Kossuth to Natural Bridge Avenues. Perhaps we have not as- sociated with it an interesting historic past. To most of us now it is a park, and we have no reason to believe it ever was other- wise. However, if we had lived forty or fifty years ago and had gone to the Pair Grounds, we would have found a very dif- ferent place from the present St. Louis public park. Let us visit the Pair Grounds as it was of old. After dismounting from the Mound City car we are confronted with a large iron fence. Paying the required ad- mission fee, we enter the grounds by the Grand Avenue entrance. We see the very lake upon which many of us have skated. Standing beside it, one sees the familiar bear pit, the only present remains. There are several other buildings in the park, as the House of Comforts, similar to an inn or hotel where meals are served: a monkey house, and several other booths where various things are exhibited. These build- ings are used for the frequent fairs, pic- nics, or circuses which are given there. In the center of the grounds we see the am- phitheater. Probably today we may see the great western trail blazer, Buffalo Bill himself, and his Indians perform on the quarter-mile track. Before us, we may ob- serve a mass of people gathered to see the ascent of a balloon, and then we excitedly await the descent of a woman in a parachute, Going on, we come to the one-mile race track situated between Fair and Prairie Avenues. We arrive at the grandstand just in time to hear the pages, exquisitely dressed in gold and silver, announce the beginning of the race. We observe surrounding the track countless stables sheltering, among others, our fa- vorite horse, which we hope will win. After enjoying our visit immensely, we retreat through the Pair Avenue entrance. The large red boulder which is near the pool was erected by the Daughters of the American Revolution in 1910. The stone marks the location of the Hrst fair held west of the Mississippi River, in the year 1856, by the St. Louis Agricultural and Mechanical Association. Pairs were held annually from 1856 to 1861, when they ceased to exist because the United States troops occupied the grounds. However, after the evacuation by the soldiers, the fairs continued to be held until 1903. The last race held in the Pair Grounds was the World's Fair Handicap in 1904. It was then felt that the city would be greatly benefited by purchasing the Fair Grounds. ln 1908 it was acquired from Mr. Pilles for the sum of seven hundred thousand dollars. Reconstruction was im- mediately begun. The old fence, which many boys had tried to climb, was re- moved: the buildings and dead trees were taken down, and concrete bridges were built over the lagoon. By April 16, 1911, the new park was opened to the public. Thus our present Fair Grounds was estab- lished, offering amusements of various sorts to the public and creating for Beau- mont a campus perhaps unsurpassed in this state. Fifteen

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ici , .. we x v .1. eff-' J - ,, , ,A , f V Q f M, ,4wxRQQ:'-JST-Ffa , , Mi lo smsdfn.-aight-ws ? l B 'lm' l l yr .1 T I-I E C A most enlightening one and at its conclu- sion, we were Hrmly convinced that for- tune had been most kind to us. The first day or two, both students and faculty felt their newness, but the feeling soon disappeared and was replaced by the desire to make the name of Beaumont stand not only for the largest and finest building in St. Louis, but for the most loyal and co-operative school spirit to be D U C E U S found anywhere. As a result, most of us have found real happiness at Beaumont and we are looking forward to the future with the keenest realization of the won- derful opportunities association with Beau- mont will afford us individually and, through us, the community in which it stands. Dr. Beaumont became famous for his services to his fellowmen. May all Beaumonters Hnd happiness through serv- ice, xfx 1 Qi? fc-57,2'fSw -fv, ff'-'J xQ I f , ..., ,xy ' Sq. BJ.. X 7' 'QQ' .ls rf, te ... i Fourleen

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ALBERT H. HUNTINGTON