Main Street

Hit the Bricks, Part Two

Bunny and I went back to St. Charles, MO, yesterday to go on the second “Hit the Bricks” tour, this time on the south end of Main Street to learn about “The Key to the West: Pioneers, Explorers, & Traders…Oh My!”

We got to see a replica of the first Catholic church in St. Charles, the Historic 1791 Borromeo Log Church, which was built upon the foundation of the original:

And we learned the stories behind many of the buildings…we found out that there was a widow’s walk on a home to watch out for Missouri River boat traffic, that a story about a planned rebellion regarding the new Louisiana Purchase is credited to the wrong building (which was built over a decade after the events of the story took place), how to identify a home built in the Federal style, and what buildings served as the frontier versions of the DMV and Jiffy Lube:

I learned that one of my favorite buildings on Main Street was the first to be designated on the National Register of Historic Places:

We learned the history behind the building in front, which was originally a church, and the building behind to its left, which was a school for the children of enslaved and indigenous persons:

And these hotels, which stand across the street from each other, were originally segregated by gender:

I have walked by this building more times than I can count, but I didn’t know until the tour that it was used as a lookout during the Civil War!

Our guide, Mark, was an excellent storyteller (and also a familiar face from Christmas Traditions for those in the know!):

We learned so many other stories, too…about Louis Blanchette and Lewis and Clark; Zebulon Pike and James Wilkinson; soda pop and how the train depot moved from one side of the tracks to the other; how they moved people and goods from the train tracks on one side of the river to the train tracks on the other side prior to a bridge spanning it, and much more, but to hear all the tales you’ll have to go on the full tour yourself…it’s a great time!

Hit the Bricks

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!

Black & White & Color

I love taking pictures of my town’s Main Street. There is so much lovely old architecture there, that sometimes I feel like I know exactly what it was like in the 50s. Inspired by that notion, I thought it would be fun to use a black & white filter on a photo I took yesterday, to get a “then & now” perspective: