A major U.S. port along the Mississippi River, St. Louis is renown for its Gateway Arch — the tallest monument constructed in the U.S. At a height of 630 feet, the Arch — which pays homage to western pioneers — was completed on Oct. 28, 1965, with then Vice President Hubert Humphrey watching from a helicopter. But even as the Arch was being built, St. Louis was losing residents at an alarming rate. Since the 1950 Census, the city’s population has dwindled from more than 850,000 to less than 320,000. No city with at least 100,000 residents at the time of the 1950 Census has lost as high a percentage of its population (63%) as St. Louis. While the region still has nine Fortune 500 companies, including Monsanto and Edward Jones Investments, many of the pillars of the local economy — Anheuser-Busch, Missouri Pacific Railroad, McDonnell Douglas and Ralston Purina included — have been purchased by other companies. Among the positive claims to fame remain the 11-time World Series Champion Cardinals, the famed Spirit of St. Louis which took Charles Lindbergh across the Atlantic and an amazing array of African-American talent which has been associated with the city. Among those who have called St. Louis home are Josephine Baker, Redd Foxx, Maya Angelou, Miles Davis, film producer Henry Hampton, Donny Hathaway, the Isley Brothers, comedian and activist Dick Gregory, Cedric the Entertainer, Nelly and Ike & Tina Turner.