This picture popped up this morning on Facebook, posted by someone on a St. Louis history platform. Intriguing, I found it, with unpaved streets, horse drawn carriages, and brick buildings (which may still exist) and gaps between them. A different world, to be sure. How did we get from there to today?

But then I realized that my grandmother and grandfather were both living in St. Louis when this photo was taken. My grandmother about 5, my grandfather about 9.

My grandfather died in 1953. I looked for a photo from the city then.

And my grandmother in 1969.

Okay, this is 1965, not 1969, but I like the picture.

And then there is the city today.

For those who migjt be iinterested, the view looks east toward the Arch, which is on the Mississippi. In the left foreground, you see the relatively new soccer stadium. On thecright with the orange roof, it’s the formervUnion Station, now a hotel, an amusement park, an aqarium and a bunch of restaurants. Closervto downtown on the right, you see a concert venue, and where the ice hockey Blues play.

Why am I showing you this? I am not sure, except that St. Louis is about 6800 miles from Tehran, and I was looking for distance.

Metropolitan Tehran is, by the way, over 5 times the size of Metropolitan St. Louis, and looks it.

Tehran has changed since 1895, too.

Hopefully, it will never look like Gaza City does in 2026.

End of story.