The City of St. Louis welcomes all delegates and friends of the General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists!

St. Louis was French and Spanish before it was American. And before the European explorers traveled down the great river, this rich land was home to the Mississippians, a mighty Indian civilization of mound builders. In 1764, French fur traders from New Orleans founded a city named for Louis IX, the Crusader King of France.

Napoleon sold the Louisiana Territory to President Thomas Jefferson in 1803. Jefferson sent explorers Lewis and Clark from St. Louis to chart the new Louisiana Territory in 1804. At that time, more than 1,000 people, mostly French, Spanish, Indian and both free and slave blacks, lived in the city which already was the center of the fur trade in America.

As time passed, new immigrants changed the face of St. Louis throughout the 19th century. Joining the French, Spanish, Indians and African descendants were Germans and Irish and newcomers from many nations who heard about St. Louis, the great city on the Mississippi where fortunes could be made.

Today in St. Louis—the heart of America—diversity is embraced. Native Americans, African Americans, Hispanics, Asians, French, and a host of other cultures have shaped it from its very beginnings. Their presence and the arrival of new American immigrants today continue to influence life at the confluence of the Mississippi and Missouri rivers.

Visit the Official Travel Portal for St. Louis