The Hyde Park Riot

Several years ago, I took part in a bike tour of north St. Louis and learned about a tragic event known as the “Hyde Park Riot”. As the story was told, on a hot summer day in 1863, a bunch of Union soldiers got really drunk and turned a day in the park into a…

One Hell of a Summer

On a cold and dreary evening in late February 1849, a young man with a small journal tucked into the pocket of his overcoat stepped off the steamer Thomas Jefferson and onto the St. Louis riverfront. His name was Joseph J. Mersman, and his story isn’t much different from the thousands of immigrants who poured into St Louis in the years prior…