Yesterday was my birthday, and as always, I wanted to see something interesting and beautiful, and I wanted to learn something, so we “Hit the Bricks” in St. Charles, MO!

Last year, I saw that Historic Main Street in St. Charles was offering history walking tours, but I never got around to taking one. I didn’t want to let the opportunity to pass again this summer, and I knew that this would be the perfect birthday activity. They offer two tours focusing on different ends of Main Street; I decided on the “MO Than Meets the Eye: Surprises of the First State Capital” tour which covers the 300 South-300 North blocks of Main in the span of just over an hour. The tickets were $7 per person, which means our whole family was able to attend for under $50, and that’s an accomplishment! We had a great tour guide, Lisa, who was also a familiar face from Legends and Lanterns and Christmas Traditions. She did a great job of making local history come alive for us!

Possibly the coolest feature of the tour was the fact that we were each given a ViewMaster so we could look at historic photos of the locations we were walking past…it was fascinating to see what has changed, and what really hasn’t!

We learned so many things on the tour…there are local connections to Disney, a North American Saint buried not too far from Main Street, contributions to the war effort during WWII, and stories of free speech and resistance. We also learned architectural details about some of the buildings…below is a place we’ve walked past countless times, and yet I didn’t know until yesterday that it’s actually a two-story log cabin that has been covered over in clapboard!

Another place we’ve walked past, and also stopped at for character interactions and performances during the festivals looks lovely and peaceful, but was originally the location of the town gallows!

We learned about different businesses that previously lined Main Street, buildings that were destroyed and rebuilt (and in some cases, destroyed and rebuilt again), and how the area’s complicated history came into play during the Civil War. There were so many other stories, too, but I won’t spoil the full tour…you’ll have to hear them for yourself!

There’s another daytime tour, “The Key to the West: Pioneers, Explorers, & Traders…Oh My!” that I’m hoping to go on in the future, and they’ve also recently introduced an evening tour that focuses on the macabre history of Main Street which also sounds really interesting. I love how we continue to find new events that are both fun and educational in St. Charles!