The downtown is bounded by Cole Street to the north, the river front to the east, Chouteau Avenue to the south, and Tucker Boulevard to the west.

Pierre Laclede chose to found the city on the bluffs because it had access to the river for trade and transportation, was above most floods and defensible against hostile Native Americans.

Laclede found the present-day downtown area the perfect place to run a bustling fur trade with the Native Americans of the region.

Although initial growth was slow, the settlement received a stimulus when France surrendered all of its territorial holdings east of the Mississippi River to Great Britain after the Seven Years' War.

During the late 19th and early 20th centuries, the St. Louis downtown experienced a building boom, largely because of a lack of room for businesses to expand.

By the mid-20th century, the downtown area began to decline as businesses moved west and to the suburbs, and industries restructured.

The university was discontinued in 1826 because of Bishop DuBourg's pastoral duties, but the institution was rejuvenated two years later by Father Van Quickenborne.

It received its present name in 1857 at the insistence of its chancellor, William Greenleaf Eliot, as it was chartered on George Washington's birthday.

Since the early 1990s, the city has directed urban renewal efforts in the downtown area, with greatly increased investment.

The United States Postal Service operates the St. Louis Main Post Office at 1720 Market Street in Downtown St.

[4] St. Louis MetroLink Blue and Red light rail lines service downtown with the Stadium, 8th & Pine, Convention Center, and Laclede's Landing stations.

[9][10] In 2006, John Steffen, owner of One City Centre, announced that he planned to redevelop it into a mixed-use building called 600 Washington.