Ep. 2. 48: Picturing St. Louis in 1875

This episode turns to the booming, self‑confident St. Louis of the 1870s through the lens of Pictorial St. Louis, the remarkable 1875 bird’s‑eye survey by Richard J. Compton and artist Camille Dry. Monsignor and Teresa explore how this extraordinary volume captures the city at its peak—its industries, infrastructure, neighborhoods, and dominant Catholic presence—offering the most detailed visual snapshot of any American city in the nineteenth century. Using Compton’s statistics, the conversation compares St. Louis with Chicago, New York, and New Orleans in manufacturing, banking, public health, and religious life. The episode concludes by setting the stage for looming upheavals, as civic pride gives way to the Great Divorce and rising labor unrest just beyond the book’s serene horizon.