There were once much bigger plans for the largest street in St. Louis, Kingshighway, which for the most part were never completed, though you can find little bits and pieces of that grand design here and there throughout the city. The main portion, between Christy Boulevard in the south and Penrose Park in the north, is largely as intended, though as older residents know, the dog leg in front of Barnes Hospital was replaced with a curve and cloverleaf interchange when the Red Feather, later Highway 40 cut through Forest Park.

When Kingshighway passed by Tower Grove Park, there was already a plan for a boulevard to head west from the western entrance, but it was never fully realized due to the train tracks which bisect the subdivision.

Eventually, it would have reached Carondelet Park where a spur would have headed down Bellerive Boulevard, ending at the park after crossing over South Broadway at that dramatic bridge.

To the north, there was actually a memorial made to veterans who died in the First World War, and the boulevard in the middle of Kingshighway held medallions, such as the one below, that were embedded in the ground. The map above shows where each name was located. Due to poor maintenance and vandalism, the medallions were removed and the majority are now in a new memorial in Jefferson Barracks National Cemetery, while others are in the Missouri History Museum and Soldiers’ Memorial collections.

Eventually, Kingshighway was intended to continue past Penrose Park in a boulevard that seems to have been manifested in the now decimated Bircher Boulevard, where it would have terminated at O’Fallon Park. Kingshighway even functioned as a bypass through the city for Route 66 at one point.