County of art: St. Louis Independent City
Location of art: west side of old elephant house, St. Louis Zoo
"When the Zoo was looking to purchase its first elephant in 1916, it turned to St. Louis schoolchildren for help. More than 6,000 children took part in a penny campaign that resulted in the purchase of a 35-year-old Asian elephant who had once been a circus performer.
"Miss Jim would be her name, named after James Harper, president of the school board. To say the children were excited about the elephant's arrival would be an understatement. More than 17,000 onlookers watched as she was paraded through Forest Park. "Never was there a more enthusiastic gathering of schoolchildren," reported the St. Louis Republic. "They danced around the elephant all the way out calling her name and pointing out to each other which part of Jim they owned."
"Miss Jim would remain popular throughout her 70-year life. In that time she gave rides to thousands of visitors of all ages." ~ St. Louis Zoo
The place where I was standing when I took the photo, is where the Lowland Gorilla statue stands today. It is the path to the entrance of the Great Ape House.
That very same spot in the 1940s and early 1950s was where the zoo held it's elephant ride. There was a large Indian elephant (Miss Jim) which was bought by the children of St. Louis area for the zoo, when the children gave a dime a month to the fund to buy her.
Because she (the elephant) belonged to the children of the area, the children could ride her any time they chose.
"he World's Fair of 1904 in St. Louis brought with it a walk-through flight cage commissioned by the Smithsonian Institution. St. Louisans fought for it to remain in the city once the Fair concluded, and it would later become a cornerstone for the Zoo. The City of St. Louis chose to buy it for $3,500 (original cost to build was $17,500) rather than have it dismantled and sent to Washington, D.C.
"The initial excitement that surrounded the formation of the Zoological Society of Saint Louis soon faded as it became clear that establishing a new zoo in St. Louis wasn't going to be as easy as the Society's founders imagined.
"The biggest obstacle? Agreeing where to put it.
"Promoters argued for Forest Park. The land was available, the location was ideal, and the park already hosted a collection of animals. But not everyone was convinced. One of the biggest critics of the Forest Park location was the city's park commissioner who said a zoo -- especially its animal buildings -- could ruin the natural beauty of the park.
"Other locations considered included Carondelet Park, Creve Coeur Lake, and Fairground Park, which was the location of the city's first zoo.
"It would take three years of arguments before the issue was resolved. On December 2, 1913, Mayor Henry Kiel signed legislation creating a Zoological Board of Control, and giving it authority over more than 70 acres of Forest Park.