In January of 1886, The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported “crowds of coasters at the northwestern gate of Lafayette Park.” Sledding (aka ‘coasting’) in the 19th Century attracted “long lines of finely-dressed ladies and gentlemen.” They “shot down the steep incline from the flag pole, went whizzing through the big stone gates, across Park Avenue, and down the long hill (Missouri Avenue) to Chouteau Avenue. The neighborhood resounded with the laughter and raillery of the merry crowds.” Good times for a Saturday evening by all accounts.
Continue reading “1888: Sledding In the 19th Century”