ST. LOUIS – For the latest edition of Pat McGonigle's "Wait, they did what?" we take a look back at an odd but fascinating chapter in our city's history.
We all know the Saint Louis Zoo is among the very best in the world, but did you know it's not the city's first zoo, and the big, visible reminder of the city's zoo before the zoo is still there.
Have you ever seen the big castle-like building at Fairground Park? It's at the intersection of North Grand and Natural Bridge, and used to be the bear pits, going way back into the late 1850s, just before the 1904 World's Fair, that's when this land was used as the St. Louis Expo and Fair Grounds they held smaller fairs here.
But they also had animal exhibits, and the "bear pit" was a big favorite.
"It's three large cages where the bears would have been kept. And at the ends are these huge, big towers with crenellations like an old medieval fortress. It's a really interesting structure but it's the only thing left from St. Louis' original zoo," said Andrew Wanko with the Missouri History Museum.
The bear pit castle is just a front for some maintenance equipment. Behind the grand exterior there's not a lot to see back there.
It's still there at "Fairground Park," but of course, many people call it "Fairgrounds Park" with an "S."
Here are some of McGonigle's other installments of "Wait, they did what?"
Disney park in STL lives on in Orlando
Disney in STL replaced by the Spanish Pavilion
Houdini didn't jump off the Eads Bridge
Why is Raggedy Andy in the Cathedral Basilica?
