The breakup of St. Louis City and St. Louis County can be traced to an election on this date in 1876. Vigorous debate ensued over the results, which seemed to show city residents approving the proposal and county residents overwhelmingly rejecting it, according to a recounting by the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. The city declared its independence the next year.

Photo credit: Highsmith, Carol M, photographer. City Hall, with Arch in background, St. Louis, Missouri. Saint Louis United States Missouri, 2009. Photograph. https://www.loc.gov/item/2010630847/.