St. Charles Township  

St. Charles

Answers

1. Who persuaded the State of Illinois to route Highway 64 thorough the center of St. Charles to stimulate business growth?

   COLONEL EDWARD J. BAKER convinced the state to direct Highway 64 through St. Charles in order to stimulate the economy and give direct access to the City of Chicago

2. What was at the corner of 2nd and Main Street before the St. Charles National Bank was built (now Old Kent)?

   The old Dearborn building.

3. The current site of Hotel Baker was once the old Haines mill and stockyard.  What did the City of St. Charles plan to do with the site before the hotel was built?

   Colonel Edward J. Baker rescued us from having the site as the city DUMP!  Thank you Colonel Baker!

4. St. Charles was known for tourism as early as ... 1880, when folks came to enjoy the sandy beaches of the Fox River, swimming, clamming and boat rentals.  

5. Where was Whiskey Bend? Third and Main Street.  So named for the many taverns once located there, along the trolley line.

6. The Hideaway is a reminder of what era?  Prohibition, when bootleg stills dotted the little woods along the northern Fox River.

7. What was the Rainbow Room in Hotel Baker designed for ?  Dancing with it's glass floor.

8. How did St. Charles manage the Great Depression?

   The Norris & Baker families sponsored soup kitchens.  Work programs,  co-sponsored by the Federal Government and the Norris & Baker benefactors, were used to beautify the east bank of the Fox River and create employment opportunities.  A golf course was built north of Pottawatomie Park on the former Sokol Society property which the Norris's had acquired and donated.  The swimming pool and baseball fields were constructed.  Prior to this, folks swam in the Fox River.

Many items are under construction.

Back to Kane County Home Page

Copyright © 1999                                          Send Mail

Last Updated 13-Oct-1999                               KaneCoIL@aol.com