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Gary Adams Artwork, St. Louis, MO (2026)

10/20/2026

Views from the past…

10/20/2026

Views from Forest Park

Forest Park Forever
The Muny
Explore St. Louis
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Only In Missouri
Midwest Living
Saint Louis Art Museum

10/19/2026

Jefferson County Backroads -

Missouri State Parks
Martin Dairy Farms Inc.
Goldman Fire Protection District
Jefferson County Tourism Commission
Only In Missouri
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Midwest Living

10/19/2026

The Cascades “Flegal Falls”

Only In Missouri
Visit Missouri
Forest Park Forever
St. Louis

10/19/2026

The Cascades in Forest Park is a roughly 75-foot waterfall on a steep slope west/northwest of the Saint Louis Art Museum (near the lower golf course). It is a popular spot for photos, proposals, and picnics, and it marks the start of the park’s interconnected river/waterway system.

Key History

Early vision: Cascades appeared on the original 1876 Forest Park plan, but commissioners never built them due to time and money shortages. The park opened that year (larger than Central Park) as a natural escape from industrial St. Louis.

1904 World’s Fair inspiration: The name and design pay tribute to the spectacular man-made cascades that flowed down Art Hill between Festival Hall and the Colonnade of States during the Louisiana Purchase Exposition. Those fair cascades pumped about 45,000 gallons of water per minute into the Grand Basin and were lit at night. Ragtime composer Scott Joplin was inspired by them and wrote the 1904 rag “The Cascades.” The Art Museum building itself is the surviving Palace of Fine Arts from the fair.

1930s construction: The current Cascades were added in the 1930s as a Works Progress Administration (WPA) New Deal project, deliberately mimicking the 1904 fair feature. This was part of broader park improvements (along with Seven Pools) during that era. Forest Park Forever notes it was built with WPA federal funding.

Later role: It was renovated with support from the Flegel family and now serves as the headwaters/starting point for the modern Forest Park river system created under the 1995 master plan restorations.

It’s a quiet, photogenic nod to both the original park vision and the 1904 fair’s grandeur—right in the middle of one of the country’s largest urban parks. Perfect backdrop for your shots.
Short caption options you can adapt:

“Cascades, Forest Park, St. Louis built in the 1930s as a WPA tribute to the spectacular waterfalls that flowed down Art Hill at the 1904 World’s Fair (which inspired Scott Joplin’s rag of the same name).”

“A 75-foot waterfall west of the Art Museum. The Cascades echo the 1904 fair’s grand water feature and kick off Forest Park’s river system.”

Forest Park Forever
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Explore St. Louis

10/18/2026

Main & Mill StreetFest 2026 & Cobblestone Frame and Art Gallery Fall 2026 Art Exhibition

Location: Festus Main Street

Date: 10/10/26

Festus Main Street Association
Shop Festus & Crystal City Main Street aka Tanglefoot
Central Tap
City of Festus
The Main Blade
Pogolino's Festus
Four Brothers Mead
The Brick Bistro & Brew
Jefferson County Tourism Commission
Skin Tactics Face & Body
The Contrarian Concert Hall & Theater
Sage and Saddle Boutique
The Cheese Shack

I'm limited on how many tags on the main post. I will try to tag individual pictures.

Gary Adams Artwork

10/20/2026

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