Gateway to the West Arch, Missouri

This famous monument to westward expansion is composed of a stainless steel arch 630 feet high and 630 feet wide. There is an elevator that travels up the inside of the arch to offer a view out of a small portal at the apex. The $29 million monument was designed by Eero Saarinen, and built in 1965, making it one of the tallest monuments in the world. At the base of the arch, underground, is the Museum of Westward Expansion, with displays and dioramas on that subject, focussing on the Jeffersonian era of exploration and the voyage of Lewis and Clark.