The legendary Judy Garland achieved one of her career highlights in the MGM classic Meet Me in St. Louis in 1944, just five years after receiving her only Academy Award for her timeless performance as Dorothy in The Wizard of Oz.
Meet Me in St. Louis recounted the story of the 1904 St. Louis World’s Fair. 1904 was a banner year for the city of St. Louis, as it hosted both a World’s Fair and the 1904 Summer Olympics. In its heyday following the U.S. Civil War, St. Louis had emerged as a major port and the 4th largest city in the United States, a position that it continued to hold through the time of the 1904 World’s Fair. St. Louis had been a great hub of transport and innovation for more than half a century, but in the years between 1950-2010, the city’s population declined 62.7% to a position where it now ranks 64th in size among U.S. cities.
