Malcolm W. Martin Memorial Park

Malcolm W. Martin Memorial Park is a public riverfront park in East St. Louis, Illinois, with the Gateway Arch and downtown St. Louis across the Mississippi. The raised Mississippi River Overlook is the reason to come: it puts the Arch, river, and skyline in one west-facing view. I'd make the separate cross-river stop if you want to see the Arch as part of the wider St. Louis waterfront. This park is in Illinois, outside the present Gateway Arch National Park boundary on the Missouri side.

The tiered structure at the park's west end rises just over 43 feet and is ADA accessible. From the elevated deck, the Arch, Mississippi River, and downtown sit together in the view. The lawn around it is open for a picnic or play. The park has on-site parking and public restrooms.

From the top, keep a strip of the Mississippi along the bottom of your photo and the Arch and buildings above it. That bit of water makes the opposite-bank view read as a riverfront panorama and gives the skyline a sense of scale.

Malcolm Martin spent years pushing for an Illinois-side extension of the Arch memorial grounds. He established the Gateway Center of Metropolitan St. Louis in 1968 to advance the idea and later led planning for an Illinois extension. The park was dedicated in 2005, but the larger national-park expansion across the river remains uncertain; this is a separate public park in Illinois.

Martin (1912–2004) was a St. Louis lawyer and civic leader. During World War II he studied English Channel tides for D-Day planning and helped coordinate ships. He received a Bronze Star for his Army service. Back home, he helped found KETC Channel 9 and the Arts and Education Council, then served as president of the St. Louis Board of Education from 1965 to 1977.

The Gateway Geyser opened in 1995 and once sent a main jet as high as 630 feet, matching the Arch, with four smaller fountains representing rivers that meet the Mississippi. Its operator retired it in 2023 after its pumps, generators, pond liner, and other equipment aged beyond useful life; cost and environmental impact were part of the decision. The geyser no longer erupts, but its history explains another way this park was tied to the Arch.