Celebrating St. Louis History With Your Senior Loved One

If your senior loved one enjoys a stroll down “memory lane,” St. Louis is certainly a great place to be! American history, music, industry and art all have important ties to the Gateway City, and there are many stories to discover if you know where to look. Visiting them can be a great bonding experience for both you and your mom or dad that will give you plenty to talk about.

Here is a list of a few St. Louis area exhibits and events that are sure to take senior citizens back to the “good old days!”

Things to See in St. Louis

Missouri History Museum

Located at 5700 Lindell Blvd in Forest Park, the Missouri History Museum offers an endless variety of cultural and historic programs. You can re-live history where it happened by taking one of the organization’s See STL tours, either on foot or from the comfort of a bus seat. Tours last two hours and are wheelchair accessible. The excursions include the downtown area, Cherokee Street, St. Louis’ eclectic neighborhoods, and more. The museum also offers a variety of exhibits that are free to the public. They currently include “St. Louis Sound Reprise,” an account of the city’s influence on Jazz, Blues and Rock and Roll music, which runs until Jan. 1, 2024, and “Soccer City,” a presentation about the history of the international sport in St. Louis, which runs until February.

St. Louis Art Museum

The St. Louis Art Museum offers more to see than beautiful paintings and sculptures. It includes many history-themed exhibits designed to stimulate the senses and spark conversations. Part of a wide range of programming created specifically for adults, lectures, tours, festivals, films, workshops and musical performances are always being added to the schedule.

Scott Joplin House

If your senior loved one is a music lover, they’ll be interested to know that ragtime musician Scott Joplin lived in downtown St. Louis from 1901-1903. You can visit the house he lived in during that time, which is located at 2658 Delmar and is recognized on the National Register of Historic Places. It takes about an hour to tour the residence, which is a part of the Missouri State Parks system. Visitors report it has easily accessible parking.

Jefferson Barracks

Jefferson Barracks in South St. Louis County houses a pair of interesting and unusual museums to entertain history buffs. First, it offers the Missouri Civil War Museum in the old Jefferson Barracks Post Exchange and Gymnasium Building, one of the largest museums in the country focused on the war between the Union and the Confederacy. Jefferson Barracks National Cemetery, on the surrounding grounds, was created during the Civil War in 1863 and includes more than 16,000 graves that serve as the final resting place for soldiers on both sides of the war. Second, the oldest military institution west of the Mississippi River is also home to the Telephone Museum. Housed in a beautifully restored 1896 building, the museum contains a wide variety of phones dating back to the nineteenth century. Visitors say the site is a “hidden gem” and well worth a visit.

Fall Festivities

If you’re looking for some weekend fun, St. Louis is home to a number of festivals in the fall. Sample old fashioned life on the farm by picking apples and having a sip of cider at Eckert’s Orchards’ AppleFest. Enjoy the music at the Webster Jazz and Blues Festival. Get in touch with the old country at Grant’s Farm when Oktoberfest will be in full swing, featuring German food, music and, naturally, beer! If that’s not enough Deutschland-related nostalgia for your senior parent, the St. Louis Zoo will put its own spin on the occasion with Zootoberfest!

Getting in touch with the past at a museum or festival can jog your loved ones’ memory. The experience can help stimulate their creative thinking, which thereby could help improve and preserve their cognitive health, staving off the effects of dementia. Taking a trip outside the house also can help fight off depression and gives your senior loved one an activity to both look forward to and remember fondly later on.

Hopefully, a trip around the city will give you plenty to talk about with Mom and Dad and will be the start of a new favorite way to spend some family time!

Keep up with the latest tips and recommendations for the senior in your life on Bethesda’s blog.