ST. LOUIS (KMOX) - Although The Gateway Arch didn't open to the public until June 1967, it was on Oct. 28, 1965 when the final piece of the 630-foot-tall monument was placed in the very top.
Finnish-American architect Eero Saarinen won a design competition held in the late 1940s and created the "Gateway to the West" that became the tallest man-made monument in the U.S.
Standing 630-feet tall, it's the tallest man-made monument in the US, tallest arch in the world and Missouri's tallest accessible building
(National Park Service)It's just as wide as it it tall
(National Park Service)To climb to the top of the arch by foot, you would have to take 1,076 steps. For comparison, the Washington Monument has 897 steps
(National Park Service)The deceptively small observation deck at the top of the arch's can fit up to 160 at a time.
(National Park Service)The Gateway Arch weighs 43,220 pounds
(National Park Service)The total cost to build the Arch was $13 million
(National Park Service)
