Blog Archives

Pictured: Utahraptor. Photo courtesy of Billings Productions, Inc.

The Saint Louis Zoo will transport guests millions of years back in time starting Friday, June 19, at Dinoroarus (DIE-noh-ROAR-us), a returning, temporary attraction for all-ages. The walk-through experience will feature 20 animatronic dinosaurs and sculptures that will move, roar, spit and chomp their way through the Zoo’s Historic Hill, in the valley below the Charles H. Hoessle Herpetarium.

The collection spans the Late Triassic through the Late Cretaceous periods, representing more than 200 million years of prehistoric life that shares surprising connections with animals today. Guests will discover the latest science-backed dino facts, explore theories on mass extinction and learn practical ways to protect today’s animals from the same fate.

Together, the figures feature more than 130 individual animated movements — from independently moving eyes, arms and tails to full-body sways and water effects.

“Dinoroarus is about fun and wonder, but it’s also a reminder that no species is guaranteed a future,” said Michael Macek, Saint Louis Zoo Executive Director. “Extinction has happened before on a massive scale, and the choices we make today will determine which animals that future generations will get to know. Dinoroarus brings that lesson to life.”

New and returning highlights include: 

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2026 marks the 150th anniversary of Mark Twain’s timeless masterpiece, “The Adventures of Tom Sawyer.” To celebrate, Mark Twain Birthplace State Historic Site invites the public to view its most prized artifact: the original, handwritten manuscript.

The manuscript went on display beginning Memorial Day weekend and will be available for a limited time.

Publishing drama
Described by Twain, whose real name was Samuel Langhorne Clemens, as “simply a hymn, put into prose form to give it a worldly air,” the novel had a tumultuous journey to print. To overcome international copyright piracy, Twain had his agent hand-deliver a manuscript to British publishers Chatto and Windus, who released the first, unillustrated edition June 9, 1876.

Delays pushed the American edition back to Dec. 8, 1876. In the interim, Canadian publishers pirated the English text, flooding the U.S. market with cheap copies, costing Twain an estimated $10,000 in lost royalties (the equivalent of about $311,000 today).

The manuscript’s journey to Missouri
The original British manuscript was tracked down by Kansas City book dealer Frank Glenn, who purchased it from the agent’s heirs in London in 1937. It was dedicated at the Missouri State Capitol in 1951 before transferring to its permanent home in Florida, Missouri, for the grand opening of Mark Twain Birthplace Memorial Shrine in June 1960.

Restored and digitized by the Missouri Secretary of State’s office in 2022, the highly light-sensitive manuscript requires strict preservation. It is kept in temperature-controlled darkness for 10 months of the year and is displayed at a low ambient light intensity of 50 lux or less for no more than two months annually.

150th anniversary highlights
Throughout the 150th anniversary year, visitors to the park can experience:

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Scenic Missouri will host the 2026 Scenic America Symposium on Sept. 23 to 24, in the new Bayer Center of the Missouri Botanical Garden in Saint Louis.
The symposium will serve as a national gathering focused on scenic conservation in the United States by offering a structured space for education, collaboration, and strategic action.

Its purposes include:

·       Advancing scenic conservation practices — Sessions typically cover topics such as placemaking, scenic byways, sign control, tree ordinances, and utility undergrounding.

·       Strengthening advocacy and public policy efforts — Attendees learn about local and national legislative updates that affect scenic preservation.

·       Building a network of scenic advocates — The event brings together Scenic America affiliates, community leaders, planners, designers, and activists to share best practices and coordinate efforts.

·       Showcasing scenic assets and success stories — Discussions and poster expos highlighting how scenic principles are applied in real places, reinforcing the economic and cultural value of beauty.

Hosting this symposium positions Scenic Missouri as a leader within the national movement. It also highlights Missouri’s scenic assets—especially with the event being held at the Missouri Botanical Garden—a historic landscape of international distinction.

Scenic Missouri established the Missouri Byways Program in 1990. Over the span of three decades, the program has designated 13 scenic routes, all of which showcase the state’s exceptional cultural, historical, archaeological, natural, scenic, and recreational attributes.

Missouri byways provide access to the state’s most spectacular public lands, including 10 state parks, two state forests, the Mark Twain National Forest, the Gateway Arch National Park, and the Ulysses S. Grant National Historic Site.

Dr. Peter Raven. Photo by Michael Jacob, Missouri Botanical Garden.

Dr. Peter Hamilton Raven, a botanist of global stature who transformed the Missouri Botanical Garden into one of the world’s leading centers for botany and became one of the most influential voices for biodiversity and conservation, passed away on April 25, 2026. He was 89 years old.

For nearly four decades, Dr. Raven served as President and Director of the Garden while also holding the George Engelmann Professorship of Botany at Washington University in St. Louis. When he assumed leadership of the Garden in 1971 at age 35, the institution was modest in scope. By the time he retired in 2010, he had transformed the organization into a global hub for research, education, horticultural display, and sustainability, with far-reaching scientific partnerships and conservation programs.

Dr. Raven’s vast and varied list of accomplishments at the Garden includes opening the Japanese Garden (Seiwa-en), the Margaret Grigg Nanjing Friendship Garden, the William T. Kemper Center for Home Gardening, and the Doris I. Schnuck Children’s Garden. He tripled the size of the Garden’s Herbarium, helping make it one of the largest botanical collections in the world, and greatly expanded its library, now among the world’s most comprehensive botanical libraries and since named in his honor. Dr. Raven’s many global scientific contributions in this role include founding the Garden’s William L. Brown Center and the Center for Conservation and Sustainable Development, as well as launching numerous research projects, conservation programs, and partnerships across North America and in China, Madagascar, Peru, Bolivia, and Tanzania. The 150-person staff at the start of his tenure, which included just a handful of scientists, had grown to nearly 500, including close to 50 PhD-level research scientists undertaking pioneering work on the St. Louis campus and around the world.

“Peter Raven didn’t simply lead the Garden; he redefined what it could be,” said June McAllister Fowler, chair of the Garden’s Board of Trustees. “His vision elevated it to a world-class institution while deepening its roots in St. Louis. He believed the Garden should serve its community as much as the scientific world, and that legacy is visible across our city today.”

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