Ulysses S. Grant Statue, Saint Louis

The Ulysses S. Grant Statue outside the City Hall is the work of Robert Porter Binghorst, the first professional sculptor ever to live in St. Louis.

The statue is a public tribute to Grant, who spent six years in St. Louis, before he became the 18th President of the United States. While here, he had met and married Julia Dent and unsuccessfully farmed the land on Gravois, known today as Grant’s Farm. Grant held many jobs here, including selling real estate and clerking in the Customs House. He applied for the position of County Engineer, but was rejected and finally moved away to work for his father-in-law.

As a gift from the Grant Monument Association of Missouri, the statue was dedicated in October of 1888, and as such is the oldest monument installed in the downtown area that stands today.

Originally, it was placed on a site in the middle of 12th Street between Olive and Locust. After the new City Hall building was completed, in 1904, the sculpture was moved to its south entrance. However, the Grand Army of the Republic, objecting that the south entrance was the ‘back door’, eventually succeeded in having the sculpture moved it to its present location, in 1915.

The plaque at the front of the statue depicts the Battle of Lookout Mountain.