Did you know?

Gateway Arch National Park recently celebrated what would’ve been the 101st birthday of Richard “Dick” Bowser, inventor of one of the most unique transportation systems in the world: the Arch’s Tram Ride to the Top.

Born Sept. 15, 1921, Bowser was a second-generation elevator manufacturer who was asked by Gateway Arch architect Eero Saarinen to devise a way to bring visitors to the top of the Arch and back down. The project was challenging given the Arch’s curve (much narrower at the top than at the base) and the fact that he had to accommodate an observation platform at the top, as well as space for an emergency stairway.

Bowser was given just two weeks to come up with a design! He was hired to build and install the tram, which opened in 1967, two years after the Arch’s completion. He served as tram maintenance supervisor until 1972 and is known as a trailblazer in innovation and an important figure in Arch history.