Lewis and Clark celebrations - historic downtown St. Charles
back to "lewis and clark weekend" main photo page

For those who don't know, Missouri was the first area from the Louisiana Territory to be turned into a full-fledged US state, way back in the early 1800s, just a few years after the territory became US property to begin with. At the time, the French/Spanish/British trading village of St. Charles was the largest settlement in the area, which is why it was chosen as the temporary state capitol while lawmakers went about determining where the permanent capitol was to be located. Amazingly, most of the original buildings from this period have survived over the centuries, although for decades they suffered constant cheap upgrades and concrete/metal facades as various convenience stores and dive bars took them over. In the 1970s the city of St. Charles decided to spend tens of millions of dollars to renovate all these buildings near the riverfront into the original look they had in the early 1800s, back when the city was the temporary state capitol; ever since then, the four-block area has been a hotbed for antique stores, high-end restaurants, tourism and the like. The photos on this page serve as a walking tour of sorts, leading you from one side of the historic district to the other; this particular photo is from the extreme south edge of the historic district, showing the back side of a local microbrewery and restaurant called "Trailhead."

An Anglophile store! In high school, my friends and I used to come here to buy this special brand of tea that was always drank by Dr. Who from the BBC show, which we would then carry around with us at the various science-fiction conventions we attended.

The retail store for the Winery of the Little Hills ("City of the Little Hills" being the original French name for St. Charles), a popular vineyard in the area.

"Lewis and Clark's," a popular upscale restaurant in the historic district.

One of the only reminders left that the historic district used to be a contemporary commercial area.

The old police headquarters, now a real-estate office. (Yeah, I don't understand it either.)

The old firehouse, also now housing offices.

The north edge of the historic district, looking back towards what you just saw.

North First Street, beyond where the renovation stopped. For decades the entire historic district used to look like this.

back to "lewis and clark weekend" main photo page