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East St. Louis, Illinois
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East St. Louis
City
Country United States
State Illinois
County St. Clair
Area 14.4 sq mi (37.3 km²)
- land 14.0 sq mi (36.26 km²)
- water 0.4 sq mi (1.04 km²), 2.78%
Center
- coordinates 90°07′40″W / 38.61556, -90.12778Coordinates: 90°07′40″W / 38.61556, -90.12778
Population 31,542 (2000)
Density 2,242.9 /sq mi (866 /km²)
Government type Council-Manager
founded June 6, 1820
Mayor Alvin Parks, Jr
Time zone CST (UTC-6)
- summer (DST) CDT (UTC-5)
Postal code 62201 62202 62203 62204 62205 62206 62207
Area code 618
Website : www.cesl.us
East St. Louis is a city located in St. Clair County, Illinois, USA, directly across the Mississippi River from St. Louis, Missouri. As of the 2000 census, the city had a total population of 31,542, less than half its peak in 1959. Like many larger industrial cities, it was severely affected by loss of jobs in the restructuring of the railroad industry and deindustrialization of the Rust Belt in the second half of the 20th century.
One of the highlights of the city's waterfront is the Gateway Geyser, the tallest fountain in the United States. Designed to complement the Gateway Arch across the river in St. Louis, it raises water to a height of 630 feet, the same height as the arch. It is part of the redevelopment of the waterfront.
History
Native Americans long inhabited both sides of the Mississippi River at this point. Mound builders of the Mississippian culture constructed mounds at what became St. Louis and East St. Louis, as well as the large settlement at Cahokia to the east.
After European settlement, East St. Louis' original name was "Illinoistown."[1]
Several destructive tornadoes have hit East St. Louis, the deadliest being the St. Louis-East St. Louis Tornado of 1896 which killed at least 255, injured over 1000, and incurred an estimated $2.9 billion in damages (1997 USD).[2]
The Great Railroad Strike of 1877 and the St. Louis commune
A period of extensive industrial growth followed the American Civil War. In the expansion, many businessmen became overextended in credit, and a major economic collapse followed the Panic of 1873. This was due to railroad and other manufacturing expansion, land speculation and general business optimism caused by large profits from inflation. The economic recession began in the East and steadily moved west, severely crippling the railroads, the main system of transportation. In response to the difficulties, railroad companies began dramatically lowering workers' wages, forcing employees to work without pay, and cutting jobs and the amount of paid work hours. These wage cuts and additional money-saving tactics used by the industry prompted strikes and unrest on a massive scale.
While most of the strikes in the eastern cities during 1877 were accompanied by violence and mayhem, the late July 1877 St. Louis strike was marked by a bloodless, efficient and quick take-over by dissatisfied workers of commerce and transportation in the area. By July 22, the St. Louis Commune began to take shape as representatives from almost all the railroad lines met in East St. Louis. They soon elected an executive committee to command the strike and issued General Order No. 1, halting all railroad traffic other than passenger and mail trains. John Bowman, the mayor of East St. Louis, was appointed arbitrator of the committee. He helped the committee select special police to guard the property of the railroads from damage. The strike and the new de facto workers' government, while given encouragement by the largely German-American Workingmen's Party and the Knights of Labor (two key players in the organization of the Missouri general strike), were run by no organized labor group.
The strike reached the business sector by closing packing industry houses surrounding the National Stockyards. At one plant, workers allowed processing of 125 cattle in return for 500 cans of beef for the workers. The strike continued to gain momentum, with different regions and workers asking to join in. Though the East St. Louis strike continued in an orderly fashion, across the river there were isolated incidents of violence. Harry Eastman, the East St. Louis workers' representative, addressed the mass of employees: "Go home to your different wards and organize your different unions, but don't keep coming up here in great bodies and stirring up excitement. Ask the Mayor, as we did, to close up all the saloons... keep sober and orderly, and when you are organized, apply to the United Workingmen for orders. Don't plunder ... don't interfere with the railroads here ... let us attend to that".[citation needed]
On July 28 the strike was peacefully ended when US troops took over the Relay Depot, the Commune's command center.[3]
The East St. Louis riots of 1917
East St. Louis in 1917 had a strong industrial economy boosted by World War I. Many workers entered the military and the other workers that were left went on strike. The war prevented immigration from Europe. Major companies recruited black migrants from the South to work at the Aluminum Ore Company and the American Steel Company. They were available because the US Army initially rejected many black volunteers in the years before an integrated military.[4] Resentment on both sides and the arrival of new workers created fears for job security and raised social tensions. At a white labor meeting on May 28, men traded rumors of black men's and white women's fraternizing. Three thousand white men left the meeting and headed as a mob for the downtown, where they randomly attacked black men on the street. They destroyed buildings and physically attacked people, but no one was killed. The governor called in National Guard to prevent further rioting, but rumors continued to circulate about an organized retaliation from the blacks.
On July 1, 1917, a black man attacked a white man. Whites drove by shooting in retaliation. When police came to investigate, the black attacker proceeded to fire on the police and wounded at least one. The next morning, thousands of white spectators marched into the black section of town. The rioters burned entire sections of the city and shot blacks as they escaped the flames. They also lynched several blacks.
Although the governor had called in the National Guard to try to control the situation, several accounts reported that they joined in the rioting. The mob included "ten or fifteen white women, [who] chased a negro woman at the Relay Depot in broad daylight. The girls were brandishing clubs and calling upon the men to kill the woman." 2 The woman was a known prostitute frequented by white men.
Modern
East St. Louis was named an All-America City in 1959, having retained prosperity through the decade as its population reached a peak of 82,295 residents. Through the 1950s and later, the city's musicians were an integral creative force in blues, rock and roll and jazz. Some left and achieved national recognition, like Ike and Tina Turner. Many were featured on the PBS series River of Song in 1999, covering music of cities along the Mississippi River.
The city was dramatically affected by mid-century deindustrialization and restructuring. As a number of local factories began to close because of changes in industry, the railroad and meatpacking industries also were cutting back and moving jobs out of the region. This led to a precipitous loss of working and middle-class jobs. The city's financial conditions deteriorated. Elected in 1951, Mayor Alvin Fields resorted to ill-judged funding procedures to try to buy the city out of its financial morass. The scheme increased the city's bonded indebtedness and the property tax rate. More businesses closed as workers left the area to seek jobs in other regions. Crime increased as a result of poverty and lack of opportunities. The city is also left with expensive clean-up of brownfields, areas with environmental contamination by heavy industry that makes redevelopment more difficult.
Street gangs such as the War Lords, Black Egyptians, 29th Street Stompers and Hustlers appeared in city neighborhoods. Like other cities with endemic problems by the 1960s, East St. Louis suffered riots in the latter part of the decade. In September 1967, rioting occurred in the city's South End. Also, in the summer of 1968, a still-unsolved series of sniping attacks took place. These events contributed to residential mistrust and adversely affected the downtown retail base and the city's income.
Construction of freeways and urban sprawl contributed to East St. Louis' decline as well. The freeways cut through and broke up existing neighborhoods and community networks. The freeways also made it easier for residents to commute back and forth from suburban homes, so more were inclined to move to newer housing. East St. Louis adopted a number of programs to try to reverse decline — the Model Cities program, the Concentrated Employment Program and Operation Breakthrough. The programs were not enough to offset the industrial restructuring.
In 1971, James Williams was elected as the city's first black mayor. Faced with overwhelming economic problems, he was unable to stop the city's decline and depopulation.[citation needed] By the election of Carl Officer as mayor (the youngest in the country at that time at age 25) in 1979, many said the city had nowhere to go but up, yet things grew worse. Middle-class whites and African Americans left the city. People who could get jobs simply went to where there was work and decent quality of life. Because the city had to cut back on maintenance, sewers failed and garbage pickup ceased. Police cars often did not work, and neither did their radios. The East St. Louis Fire Department went on strike in the 1970s.