St Louis 1904: Other venues

Creve Coeur Lake, one of the largest natural lakes in the state of Missouri, has been the permanent base of the St Louis Rowing Club since 1983, though the club has been racing on it intermittently since the early 1900s. The competitive racing club also offers recreational rowing, and runs junior and adult programmes. The lake, which is also used by the community for recreational activities such as paddle boating and sailing, is part of the Creve Coeur Lake Memorial Park, which is itself part of the St Louis Urban Oasis Important Bird Area.

Fourteen of the holes on the Glen Echo Country Club golf course are still laid out exactly as they were when it hosted the Olympic golf competition in 1904. Having opened in 1901, Glen Echo Country Club was St Louis’ first complete 18-hole golf course and organises competitions for women and men throughout the season. Its grounds and clubhouse also host weddings, galas and private social functions.

All that is known about the Francis Field Tennis Courts is that there were three dirt courts in total, and that they occupied part of the WUSTL campus. Their most likely location was the site now occupied by the Tao Tennis Centre, next to Francis Olympic Stadium and the Gary M. Sumers Recreation Center. The centre is home to the WUSTL tennis teams and has six hard courts. It is available for recreational use when the varsity teams are not playing or training.

The US Life-Saving Lake was an oval-shaped man-made lake in St Louis’ Forest Park, created by the organisers of the 1904 World’s Fair to allow the US Coast Guard to demonstrate their life-saving manoeuvres on the water. Modifications were made to the lake to create a course for the swimming events at the 1904 Games. These included the installation of a small pontoon dock from which competitors could dive into the water. The lake was emptied and refilled with soil after the Games. The site is now occupied by a golf course.