ST. LOUIS • In the first week of November 1918, the headlines were all about the collapse of the German lines after four years of exhausting, ghastly World War. Inside
In 1892, the Mill Creek Sewer explosion rocked St. Louis
Two men and one woman were killed, and the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported the next day that it was a miracle that hundreds did not perish.
Chouteau s Mill Creek, looking east from 13th and Gratiot, showing Mill Creek Sewer construction
The sewers under the streets of St. Louis go largely unnoticedâexcept when something goes horribly wrong. Those same sewers have shaped the history of St. Louis in ways far more influential than simply making the city healthier by safely removing waste from homes and businesses. As I wrote last week, the Mill Creek Sewer drained the flat land through the heart of the city, allowing for the building of massive railyards that still split St. Louis into north and south. I would argue that if not for the sewer forming that division through the urban core, the history of our city might be different.Â