Compton & Dry in Color: Plate 39

It continues to be my favorite “thing” in St. Louis history. A map often referred to simply as “Compton and Dry” after the man who published it (Richard Compton) and the guy who drew it (Camille Dry), the map’s official name is Pictorial St. Louis, the Great Metropolis of the Mississippi valley; A Topographical Survey Drawn…

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…