ST, CHARLES ILLINOIS The 'Beauty Spot of the FOX RIVER \ALLEY LIBRARY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS AT URBANA-CHAMPAIGN Gift of Ronald Rayman /£ N allegorical sketch on the cover by Q^/jL Les Norris, envisages Pottawatomie, chief of the primeval inhabitants of this vale of beauty. Where stood his wigwam, now stands in its finished elegance the Saint Charles Country Club; where the trail of the mighty hunter and the swift-footed warrior beat its pathway deep, now stands the Arcada Theatre; the towering Hotel St. Charles, and the St. Charles National Bank. 1 9 ST. CHARLES Ttie Beauty "S^^pj: the FOX* Watch for <— > 1. The Beautiful Environment. 2. The Community Center. 3. The Churches. 4. The Banks and Industries. 5. The Newest High School. 6. The Arcada Theatre, Country Club, Hotel. '? 7 £3 23 5t I he HE thrill which came to me with my first view of the Fox River Valley made an imperishable impression upon me. It seemed almost unbelievably varied and verdant for a landscape in the rich prairie country of the Middle West — as if, when God made New England, a generous portion of that material had been left over and placed in Northern Illinois. That initial impression has been fortified and reinforced through more than thirty years of residence in this kindly valley. Its charms bear the acid test of long intimacy. When, today, I drive to the ridge of hills overlooking the winding course of Fox River and its valley, I find myself moved by its pastoral loveliness as I was moved when first my eyes rested upon it as a boy eagerly making towards the threshold of manhood. The enduring quality of enchantment which this valley casts upon those who have eyes to see its beauties is the supreme test which can be imposed upon any place, any landscape, any person. Only the rarest of friends can stand this ordeal of long intimacy. For myself, I wish that only those who are capable of appreciating this strip of transplanted New England might be admitted to it. That the lure of this valley to me is not a matter of my own eyes, not my own prej' udicedj and impressionable perceptions, I have put to proof a thousand times by taking strangers to survey its charms. These pilgrimages of experimentation in the effect of the valley upon others began in the old buggy days when a drive from Geneva to Elgin and return was a day's trip. The coming of the automobile has meant to me seeing more of the Fox River Valley and being able to display more of it to my friends and acquaintances. That is my measure of what the automobile has accomplished ! I recall a long Sunday trip with Emerson Hough, shortly after he took up a temporary residence in Elgin. We had both done our bit in "seeing America first" and were regarded as thoroughly seasoned "scenery hounds." But, as a turn of the road brought some new vista of the valley into view, he would signal me to stop the car so that he could drink in the fresh loveliness of the landscape. I can hear him exclaim: "Look at that! Crissey, every time I come back to this Valley it gets a stronger hold on me. It is friendly, intimate, alluring. It doesn't yell at you or strut or try to awe you — but just smiles and invites. That's the kind of scenery to live with year after year!" Hundreds of others to whom I have shown the Valley have confessed the same en' chantment. Its spell falls upon them all — and holds them more closely the longer they live with it. Often have I tried to analyse the peculiar quality of the Fox River Valley's appeal. There has been a hint of this in what I have already said. One strong note in its appeal is that it blends agricultural richness with scenic beauty. This combination is not altogether common. Quite generally the landscape that flaunts its picturesqueness betrays by the same token, its lack of productivity. Follow any country road, or any cement highway in the Valley of the Fox in the harvest season and the eye is confronted at every angle with tawny fields of grain or rich green stretches of alfalfa framed with dark woods. they are The hills that embosom the Fox and their intervales are not barren breast s fountains of rich and generous nourishment for the human beings they mother. "A pleasant and a fruitful land" is as apt and inspired a description of the Valley of the Fox as it was of that "Promised Land" into which the ancient Israelites sent their advance spies who returned laden with fruit and grapes. "A fruitful and a pleasant land" — that tells the whole story! A land that nurtures its own people in fatness and plenty ! Not a lean landscape ! In all this there is more than a hint of why the Fox is a silver thread upon which is strung a succession of prosperous villages, towns and cities. Fertility breeds ability to buy, hence the sturdy commerce of the Fox River country. Industry has found the Fox River Valley as generous and unfailing a mother as she has been to agriculture and commerce. Manufacture has grown along the Fox as abun- dantly as the crops of its fields. I like to think that the people of this valley of ours are almost as self-supporting and self-sufficient as was Robinson Crusoe on his solitary island. On a pinch they could come closer than almost any other community with which I am familiar to taking care of them- selves against a world embargo. But we are far from being a solitary people. A swelling tide of invasion is pouring in from all directions, but mainly from Chicago. In Spring, Summer and Autumn it seems that all roads lead to the Fox — a? they did to Rome — and that a large share of Chicago's three million inhabitants are rushing on rubber to the Fox as to a new gold camp. To me this invasion is not altogether agreeable. Personally I like privacy and a land- scape which is not overcrowded with human beings, and I would much prefer to make the invasion a selective one. But I recognize this invasion as being as inevitable as the West- ward course of the sun. The influx of population into this Valley in the next five years will, in my opinion, astound almost everybody — excepting Col. Ira C. Copley, Samuel Insull, the Chicago Telephone Company and those other persons and corporations whose success depends upon anticipating the big shifts of population. They will be on the ground and ready to reap the rich harvest. In fact, they are already on the ground and prepared for a phenomenal expansion. They have seen the Westward turn of the outgoing tide for some time and are "all set" to accommodate its enormous increase. Taking care of Chicago's spill-over is their specialty and they "know their stuff." They are not forgetting that the enchanted Valley of the Fox is less than one hour from Chicago by thoroughly modern transportation facilities and that present facilities can be easily speeded up to that time limit. Cement highways are rapidly reaching out from Chicago to this alluring, livable Valley; their number is increasing constantly. St. Charles will soon have her direct cement artery and others are heading for the Fox. "Development" is coming our way with a rush. The problem of the moment is not that of stimulating and increasing it, but of checking it with selective restraints. The Fox River Valley is too rare and too charming a section to be de- spoiled by cheap development. The protection against this is for the freeholders of the Fox to realize the value of their holdings, to treat them with protective appreciation and not to part with their parcels of stray New England landscape cheaply. Shrewd old Omar Khayam once wrote: "I wonder what the vintners buy One half so precious as the stuff they sell." That's the way I feel about the Valley of the Fox ! r^ <& i WORLD'S LARGEST GAME FARM "Out in the hinterland beyond St. Charles we find the Wallace Evans game farm. Here deer roam the hills, swans swim in little lakes and wood ducks and mallards and canvasbacks preen in the watercourses. Peacocks spread their fans and pheasants, gaily colored, march in the enclosures."" — Lester B. Colby, Illinois Chamber of Commerce. "Samuel Evans 1 estate in the Fox River Valley at St. Charles is the world's largest game farm. * * Samuel and Wallace Evans are adepts in the difficult art — in which scores of imitators have failed — of raising, in captivity, wild game birds by the thousands. This has cost years of intensive scientific observation and study and a patience and persistence which could come only from a profound love of this strange specialty. Both Samuel and Wallace Evans are consulted by ornithologists of national reputation as well as by govern' ors, United States senators, officials of the United States Department of Agriculture and the agricultural and game departments of the various states. 11 — Forrest Crissey. ST. CHARLES SCHOOL FOR BOYS Made Possible by the Energy and Vision of the Late John W. Gates "Nearby we find the St. Charles School for Boys, state institution for delinquents; frankly, a reform school. But you'd hardly recognise it as such. Col. Frank D. Whipp, managing officer, acted as host and guide. This is the picture. "Eight hundred boys on 1,200 acres. Neither a wall nor a barred window. The boys are divided into 23 'families 1 scattered about in 8 colonies. Sixteen school teachers teach 8 grades; in all 130 employees. It is a pleasant place for boys even to lake and park and zoo. Its health de- partment includes 2 nurses, a doctor and a full time den- tist. 11 — Mr. Lester B. Colby. [5] V HENRY ROCKWELL BAKER MEMORIAL COMMUNITY CENTER HE words "community" and "community spirit" are heard so often these days that their value may have been blurred by repetition, but St. Charles has a concrete example of their true meaning in the Henry Rockwell Baker Me' morial Community Center. This building (together with the site and a handsome endowment) is an outright gift to their townsmen by Mr. and Mrs. Edward J. Baker in memory of their only son who thirteen years ago died in early manhood and whose portrait by Mr. Paul Trebilcock greets you in the lounge. The building also memor.'alises the young men and women from St. Charles who served in the World War, of whose names 367 are cast in the bronze tablet beside the entrance. The site at Walnut Street and Second Street South was once the home of a local Civil War Veteran, Maj. J. S. Van Patten. The entire memorial when turned over to the people represented a cost of about $200,000.00; its function is to be a place of common assembly, and an inspiration for every-day life in St. Charles. The architects, Messrs. Wolf, Sexton, Harper & Trueax, have used the Mediaeval style of the Tudors, a period when each community furnished artisans whose creations are still admired. Leaded windows, half-timbers, stucco, stone and brick are harmonized under the broad sweep of the slate roofs. Interior decorations are of the same general period, and the furnishings were chosen for their suitability. The grounds have been landscaped under the supervision of the Garden Club of St. Charles. We think this institution is internationally unique. It is a gift from local donors, dedicated to local ideals, and largely built by local craftsmen who worked with the idea that this structure shall be standing 500 years hence, stately and sturdy, mellowed by time. Besides containing a big assembly hall and stage, a lounge, swimming-pool, bowling alleys, billiard room, kitchens, lockers, etc., rooms have been assigned to several social and benevolent societies. The St. Charles Woman 1 ? Club, a pioneer organisation of its kind, occupies a room on the second floor. The Woman's Club has long been an influence for social and civic betterment in St. Charles. A younger organization, The Business and Professional Woman's Club, also uses this room for its meetings. The Boy Scouts have been assigned third floor rooms which will also be used by the Camp Fire Girls. The American Legion's room is on the second floor and with its appropriate lounge furnishings, is maintained by the St. Charles Post No. 342 as a rest room, open at all times to all veterans of the World War, Spanish- American War and the Civil War, as well as a local post room. Just beneath on the first floor to the left of the entrance, is the office of the St. Charles Chamber of Commerce, which is a general information bureau at the service of the public. The Henry Rockwell Baker Memorial Community Center is already becoming a Mecca for tourists from all over the world. There are five Boy Scout Troops in St. Cha-les. Below may bs seen the color guard - On April 30, 1926 there were 1,781 children under 20 years M&:< " ST. CHARLES NET AND HAMMOCK COMPANY Est. 1906 Inc. 1909 This Company sells Couch Hammocks, Basket Ball Goals, Woven Minnow Seins and other textile specialties from coast to coast, and is rated amongst the four national leaders in their line. Expert supervision, modern machinery and valuable patents have eliminated hand work from GLENN MANUFACTURING CO. Established over 60 years ago and at one time the only manufacturing plant in St. Charles, it has a long and hon- orable record as a gray iron foundry. It occupies a three- acre tract on the river front just south of West Main Street, is operated by water-power and served by the Chicago 6? Northwestern Railway. Its products are plumbers' supplies and jobbing castings. the weaving in this factory which is one of the best equipped and most modern in the country. Its floor space is 31,700 sq. ft., and it employs 75. They maintain an office and salesroom at No. 666, Lake Shore Drive, Chicago. JENSEN-KOHLERT MANUFACTURING COMPANY This company is engaged in the manufacture of metal specialties, largely patented products, the result of the mechanical genius of Mr. Lawrence Jensen, active head of firm. NEWCOMBE-HAWLEY, INC. This Company is one of St. Charles 1 newest industries and one of its largest. Newcombe-Hawley, Inc., located here three years ago, taking over the plant of the American Seamless Container Company. Since then it has expanded into the former Borden Condensing Co. building, and further expansion is in prospect. Its principal product is Radio loud speakers which alone is almost sufficient explanation for its youth and rapid growth. If we add that Mr. Jess Hawley, of Dartmouth football fame, is the "Hawky," and that Mr. Newcombe is of equal capacity, you have the complete explanation of this growth. This Company employs 135 hands. 13 y ^ THE GLOBE MUSIC CO. The Globe Music Com- pany moved to St. Charles from Chicago in 1915 with a small force of men. Since then the Company has grown to such an ex- tent that its plant now occupies two acres of land, and it has taken an important place among the major industries of St. Charles. The Company manufactures stringed musical instruments, such as Guitars, Mandolins, Banjos, Banjo Ukeleles and Ukeleles. The normal output is about 250,000 instruments per year. C. H. HOLMSTROM & COMPANY This is a new industry to St. Charles — located in the Universal Press Building. It is equipped to do first class bookbinding, including novelties. "The Holmstrom bindery does highly satisfactory work for us 11 advises the head of one of our large manufactories. ST. CHARLES NICKEL WORKS This firm does nickel plating and polishing and mechanical p la ling, and has a reputa- tion for high class work. It specialises in steel stampings. THE UNIVERSAL PRESS The publications of this concern are known all over the United States and abroad — in fact, wherever books are sold. The firm issues an attractive illustrated catalogue of gift books which will be mailed free upon request to any address, and the books will be found on display in all of the leading bookstores and depart- ment stores throughout the country. During the year 1926 over 100,000 boo\s were shipped out of St. Charles\to all parts of the United States. ST. CHARLES PAPER BOX CO. If the art of making paper boxes appears a simple, minor matter, stop in some day on the St.Charles Paper Box Company and inspect its 8,000 square feet of floor space laden with machinery about which 34 em- ployees are busily engaged daily. You will be surprised. This Company makes all manner of set-up boxes, plain and fancy. It was established in St. Charles in 1919. [14] RAY C. JUDD Mr. Ray C. Judd is one of America's largest exporters of and dealer in high class dairy cattle and an extensive breeder of blooded cattle. During the year 1920 he held a contract (one of two in the United States) with the French Government for re-stocking France with dairy cattle, and he exports annually 4,000 head of cattle to old Mexico. Mr. Judd got his start in the Chicago dairy district, the greatest in the world, of which St. Charles is about the geographical center. Mr. Judd's dairy barn on his farm west of St. Charles is one of the most modern in the country. ANDERSON ICE CREAM COMPANY The Anderson Ice Cream Company makes bulk and brick ice cream and about every- thing that tastes good in frozen ice and milk. "Anderson's cream is just a little better than most other creams 11 is common talk in the Fox River Valley. ILLINOIS CLEANERS AND DYERS Starting with one man in 1915, this Company has grown to be one of the largest dry cleaning establishments in the country, employing 75 hands and keeping 15 trucks con- stantly in motion over Northern Illinois. It is now located in a modern dry cleaning plant which is to be enlarged in the near future to meet the demands of the business. S. W. PIKE, SEEDSMAN This is a name becoming nationally known to lovers of gardening. Mr. Pike started this business in 1887 with a small greenhouse which for many years specialised in cut flowers. In recent years he has put his main energies into a seed, bulb and plant mail order department. THE ST. CHARLES MEMORIAL WORKS Supplies cut stone monuments for most of those who die in St. Charles and its vicinity — for the span of life eventually ccmes to an end even in this beautiful Valley of the Fox. McCORNACK OIL COMPANY Mr. Charles S. McCornack established an independent oil business in St. Charles in 1904. This business has experienced a healthy growth until today, with branches in Elburn, Geneva and other adjacent communities, it ranks as one of the largest petroleum products distributors in this territory. CHRONICLE PUBLISHING CO., INC. This firm has a modern printing plant. They are the printers of this booklet, and are publishers of the local newspaper, The St. Charles Chronicle. STATISTICAL DATA POPULATION Shown by April 30, 1926, Special Federal Census Total Population, 5,118: males 2,640; females 2,478 Under 20 years, 1,781; over 70 years, 168 Percentage Increase in 6 years, 3 months, 23 days — 24.8 Total Number Families, 1,287; Homes Owned, 866; Homes Rented, 421; Percentage Heme Owners, 67-2; Individuals Employed in Chicago 174, Geneva 88, Elgin 41, Batavia 34, Aurora 13, Other Cities 32 ASSESSED VALUATION Assessed valuation for City of St. Charles on Real Estate for the years : 1922 1923 1924 1925 1926 $930,987.00 $938,073.00 $939,279.00 $960,353.00 $1,029,004.00 showing a substantial gain for each of past 5 years. The total assessed valuation for the City for the year 1926 was $1,673,198.00. (For those who do not know, it might be stated that the assessed valuation is interesting only as a base for Taxation, a basis of comparison, and as it applies to the constitutional limitation on a city's indebtedness. Under the present Law, The Assessed Value is one-half of the "full value" ascertained by the Assessor and the various supervising bodies; but this "full value," in practice, is about one-third of the real value.) INDEBTEDNESS Under the constitutional indebtedness limitation of 5% of the assessed value, St. Charles could carry a maximum indebtedness of $83,659.90. The actual indebtedness of the City of St. Charles on January 1, 1927 was nothing, a remarkable showing for a modern munici- pality. The figures on the City's indebtedness in detail are as follows: 1 — for Genera! City Bonds Outstanding $6,000.00 2 — For Judgments against it and Unpaid nil 3— Total for Outstanding Public Benefit Bonds (all kinds) $15,500.00 4 — For Outstanding "No Fund" Warrants nil Total City Indebtedness $21,500.00 On deposit with City Treasurer in special fund is $17,686.79 to pay off the above $15,500.00 Public Benefit Bonds, with interest, as rapidly as they can be collected. Surplus (in addition to last above named special fund) in general city fund was on January 1, 1927 $8,086.01, or more than enough to pay off the $6,000.00 in Outstanding Bonds (which have been called) with interest. TAX RATE IN CITY OF ST. CHARLES (Per cent, of Assessed Value for past three years) 1924 State 65 County 1.00 Town City Road and Bridge .... Road Bond Library Parks Forest Preserve Conservancy District School Dist. 87. .. High School .17 1.99 .66 .056 .18 .144 1.39 .790 1925 .85 • 75 -17 1.95 .60 .09 .18 .14 .05 2.58 1.55 8.91 1926 .65 • 75 .17 1.67 .60 .09 .18 .15 .05 .08 2.71 1.77 8.87 TAX RATE OF CHICAGO AND SUBURBS Eeanng in mind the above 1926 total of 8.87, notice the follow- ing total 1926 tax rates for Chicago and some suburbs, according to the "Chicago Tribune" of Feb. 25, 1927: Chicago average is between 9.00 and 10.00 per cent, of assessed value. Evans ton average is. .. . 11.41 May wood 13.06 Oak Park 12.61 River Forest 12.41 Berwyn 12.69 Forest Park 12.64 Chicago Heights 11.99 DesPlaines 12.27 Glencoe 12.65 Kenilworth 11.94 La Grange 11.64 Melrose Park 12.25 Park Ridge 11.93 Riverside 10.54 Wilmette 12.34 Winnetka 12.14 CITY OFFICIALS Incorporated as a city in 1874, St. Charles is to-day governed by a mayor and 6 aldermen. It has police force of 3 (ample enough for present conditions) and a very efficient fire department of 8 volunteer men and a chief and assistant chief. The fire rate for the city is under Basis Table No. 1. STREETS— NAMES AND NUMEERS A modified Philadelphia street-numbering system allowing 100 numbers to the block is used, Main St. and the River being the base lines. Thoroughfares on the East side are "avenues" while those on the West side aie "streets." Streets and avenues parallel to the River are numbered "first," "second," etc., and are further qualified as "North" or "South" of their intersection of Main St. POST OFFICE The Post Office is second class with 2 Rural Tree Delivery Routes. Number of employees is 13 of whom 4 are City Carriers. The report for fiscal year ending June 30, 1926 showed postal receipts of $21,461.81, a gain of 22^-5% over the preceding year and the largest receipts to date. PUBLIC IMPROVEMENTS The following figures show that to date 42% of our city street mileage is paved: Total Length of Streets 30.4 mi. Total Brick Pavement 1.5 mi. Total Concrete Pavement 1 1 . 5 mi. Total Sanitary Sewers 20.0 mi. Total Water Mains 20.0 mi. (Authority: Wells Engineering Company) Petitions are out for more paving during the next year. BRIDGES The people of St. Charles purpose to widen the Modern Con- crete bridge at Main St. to full street width. This will help the flux of traffic bound to result from the completion of the Chicago- Iowa Trail (Route 64) in the near future. The formal proposition will, in all probability, be put before the voters soon after the publication fo this booklet. In addition to the Main Street Bridge, St. Charles has a sub- stantial Foot Bridge at Prairie Street. AUTHENTIC INDUSTRIAL DATA [Supplied by 14 Leading Industries For the 14 Industries Total No. Employees, 1,257; Total Floor Space, 536,824 sq. ft.; Total Annual Incoming Freight, 27,627 Tons; Total Annual Outgoing Freight, 13,629 Tons. Five of these Industries use electric power; three use steam; two use water; one uses water and electric; one uses steam and electric; two use no power. Total Annual Pay Roll of 12 (data incomplete on two largest Industries) of these Industries is $881,499.00. April 30, 1926, Federal census showed 382 St. Charles residents employed outside our city. FOX RIVER at ST. CHARLES Pottawatomie Par\"lndian Mounds'"Underwoods'" Orchard Hill Oa\ Ridge Camp'-Pinelands—lO Miles of Pictures^" Conservancy District 1 I ROM the St. Charles dam, North, is a stretch of unob- structed current generally conceded to be the most beautiful ten . miles of the Fox River Valley. The banks are clean-cut and slope back into a picture of grass and foliage patterned into fields and dotted with Summer homes and country estates. A State paved highway follows the heights on the West side while surveys and advance bridge-construe tion promise a similar road on the other shore which is already served by the Aurora, Elgin & Fox River Electric Line. The quaint pavilion and wooded slope of Potta- watomie Park are well known to many Chicago people. The natural beauty is still unspoiled, and many improvements and conveniences have been IB SI added by the Park Commissioners. Just beyond is Jones 1 Woods — 80 acres of virgin timber, and one of the holdings of Mr. Lester J. Norris who also owns Rainbo Springs, an adjoining Summer resort. The rustic cottages of Underwoods are on the opposite shore behind the mouth of Ferson Creek whose leafy tunnel has inspired more than one study in color by Chicago artists. Further along this shore you can see the mellow old bricks of Wild Rose Inn, and the automobiles moving by despoiled Indian mounds, and farms and Summer dwellings. Camps, handsome estates and flourishing subdivisions mark the curves of the East Shore's continuation. Alta Vista (the home of Mr. R. F. Angell) tops the green hill which serves as a background for Calamus Lodge and Orchard Hill — Orchard Hill, whose harvest now-a-days is the augmented health and morale of those youngsters spending their Summers there. At River Grove Additions are over 50 homes and Summer cottages, many of which belong to Chicagoans. Just above Norton's Creek is Oak Ridge Camp, the achievement of two St. Charles women who were first to capitalize the River's attraction. Pinelands, directly North, is also known for its dance music and its wholesome, restful cottage-colony as well. Beyond are Villa Maria, Cedar Rock, Silver Glen and the Old War Trail at Five Islands where the River flows toward Puget Sound, miles of pleasant shore-line and a clear stream for bathing, fishing and boating. The reader may credit Fox River's reputation for beauty and sport, and still question its healthfulness. An analysis of this water, made not long since for Dr. R. J. Lambert of Orchard Hill, showed a lower bacterial count than the average at Chicago bathing beaches, with a slightly higher vegetable content. Nature gave the River its pristine beauty and purity, but man's foresight is needed to save them under future conditions. The Fox River Valley Federation is sponsoring a conservancy district, linking the whole Valley from beginning to end with the common object of controlling sewage, preventing possible pollution and regulating the water supply. Such an organization will also be able to improve the fishing, beautify the hanks, dredge the channel and even install locks for power-boating as the future may demand. The Conservancy Drainage District Proposition was authorized by the voters last Fall. [17 ER A,T To CHARLE "Within the next twenty 'five years, 1,000,000 newcomers will settle in suburban Chicago, the population forcasters say.'" —CHICAGO HEWS. my ST. CHARLES NATIONAL BANK Newest Bank Building in the Fox River Valley and the most modern and elaborate of its size in the country; cost $200,000.00. "They opened the bank the other day, and I, rediscovering Illinois, was there to see it. This village bank's home cost about $200,000.00. It is of marble with beautiful bronze furniture and tall bronze vases and amazing equipment. It is probably the most richly furnished bank of its size in the world. It is complete even to machine-gun emplacements. " — Lester B. Colby, Illinois Chamber of Commerce. Capital $50,000.00 Surplus and Undivided Profits $51,543.13 Deposits $857,103.99 Opened for Business April, 1902 Directors: C. W. Bolcum, B. C. Getzelman, Jas. S. Richmond, Geo. K. Tanner, E. J. Baker, Ray W. Matteson, Jos. W. Gartner, Dr. C. A. Potter, P. S. Nichol. C. Jay Marvin, Cashier: W. J. Riordan, Asst. Cashier; C. W. Bolcum, President; Geo. K. Tanner, Vice President. STEWART STATE BANK The pioneer bank of St. Charles; f established in 1858 and has on file a | check drawn and paid at that date; substantial, modern building. Capital $100,000.00 Surplus and Undivided Profits $68,403.04 Deposits $1,317,44778 Directors: Floyd Bergland, J. W. Chaffee, Philip DeBruyne, R. C. Judd, C. S. McCornack, C. W. Norris, John Stewart. J. W. Chaffee, President, C. S. McCornack, Vice President, John Stewart, Cashier. , *,;,, [20 BENEVOLENT AND SOCIAL ORGANIZATIONS The following benevolent and social organizations are represented in St. Charles: A. F. & A. M. Unity Lodge No. 48 American Legion, Post No. 342 Boy Scouts Business 6? Professional Women's Club Camp Fire Girls Central City Rebekah Lodge Chamber of Commerce Danish Brotherhood, Lodge No. 92 Danish Ladies 1 Society D. L. K. Vitautas (Lithuanian) I. O. O. F. Enc. No. 13; Lodge No. 14 KlWANIS Ledstjernan Society (Swedish) Lithuanian Sons 6? Daughters Loyal Order of Moose Mystic Workers of the World Modern Brotherhood of America Modern Woodmen of America, Camp No. 602 Royal Neighbors, Fox Valley Camp No. 6412 St. Charles Garden Club St. Charles'Geneva Home Protective Assn. St. Charles Women's Club St. Charles Women's Mooseheart Ln. No. 512 St. George Lithuanian Society Sons & Daughters of America Vikings. Neptune Lodge No. 35, I. O. V. Ladies' Order Same, Daga Lodge No. 20 Women's Christian Temperance Union Young Mothers' Club Women's Relief Corps No. 306 Until 1926, St. Charles was honored by a local post of the G. A. R., the Elon J. Farnsworth Post No. 456- The abandonment of this Post marked an historical epoch in St. Charles. Chicago Railway Connections CHICAGO 6? NORTHWESTERN RAILWAY Effective January 2, 1927 Chicago Great Western R. R. Co. Effective March 1,1927 Eastbound DAILY— EXCEPT SUNDAYS Westbound Leave Arrive Leave Arrive Eastbound : Westbound St. Charles Chicago Chicagc i St . Charles Leave Arrive Leave Arrive A.M. A.M. A.M. A.M. St. Charles Chicago Chicago St. Charles 6.30 7.47 6.20 8.15 A.M. A.M. A.M. A.M. 7.18 8.40 7.24 8.30 8.00 9.12 8.30 9.55 P.M. P.M. P.M. P.M. P.M. P.M. P.M. P.M. 7.02 8.25 0.30 7.39 2.53 (Sat. only) 4.50 1.24 (Sat. only) 2.48 A.M. 6.25 (Exc. Sat.) 7.45 5.05 (Exc. Sat.) 6.22 11.30 12.38 6.53 8.30 5.25 6.48 Chicago, Aurora & Elgin R. R. Co. Effective 'November 25, 1926 Eastbound Leave Arrive St. Chi- Charles cago Leave St. Charles Arrive Chi- cago DAILY-EXCEPT SUNDAYS Leave Arrive Leave Arrive Leave St. Chi- Chi- St. Chi- Charles cago cago Charles cago Arrive St. Charles Leave Chi- cago Westbound Arrive St Charles Iwc 5.35 7.10 Iwc 11.12 12.46 Iwc 6.12 7.06 Iwc 7.52 8.00 7.59 8.42 9.20 9.42 lew 5.30 7.04 lew 2.00 3.28 lew 6.10 7.44 Iwc 6.03 Iwc 6.25 Iwc 7 05 7.48 8.03 8.39 9.05 10.10 11.10 in LIG] Arrive Chi- cago Iwc 12.43 Iwc 2.12 2.16 3.51 lew 7.00 lew 8.00 8.34 9.33 lew 3.30 lew 4.22 4.58 5.49 7.25 lew 9.00 9.02 10.33 Iwc 7.30 Iwc 8.43 Iwc 9.43 Iwc 3.52 Iwc 5.12 5.36 6.43 9.25 11.30 10.58 1.09 lew 9.30 lew 11.00 . lew 12.30 SUNDAYS Leave Chi- cago 10.59 12.31 2.02 Arrive St. Charles lew 5.15 lew 5.45 6.55 7.20 lew 10.30 lew 12.00 11.57 1.21 A. M. time Leave St. Charles 3T figures Leave St. Charles Arrive Chi- cago Leave St. Charles Arrive Chi- cago Leave Chi- cago Arrive St. Charles P. M. time Leave Chi- cago in HEAVY figures Arrive St Charles 6.50 Iwc 8.21 Iwc 9.50 Iwc 11.21 Iwc 12.50 8.25 9.50 11.20 12.50 2.20 Iwc 2.21 Iwc 3.50 Iwc 5.21 Iwc 6.51 3.50 5.20 6.50 8.20 Iwc 8.21 Iwc 9.21 10.20 11.23 9.50 10.50 11.50 1.03 6.20 7.50 lew 9.30 lew 11.00 8.04 9.33 11.04 12.33 lew 12.30 lew 2.00 lew 3.30 lew 5.00 2.04 3.33 5.04 6.34 lew 6.30 lew 7.30 lew 8.30 lew 9.30 lew 10.35 lew 11.43 8.04 9.04 10.04 11.04 12.04 1.08 LWC-LCW — Limited between Chicago and Wheaton. New Year's, Decoration Day, July 4th, Labor Day, Thanksgiving and Christmas trains will run on Sunday schedule. Approximate running time between Wells St., Chicago and Marshfield Ave., 5 minutes; Laramie Ave., 17 minutes; Des Plaines Ave., Forest Park, 25 minutes. No Baggage Carried For Information Phone Harrison 2380 FOX RIVER VALLEYS NEWEST HIGH SCHOOL MT. ST. MARY'S ACADEMY - PUBLIC LIBRARY PUBLIC SCHOOLS UILT in 1925 at a cost of $260,000.00, the St. Charles Community High School stands on a 14K" acre campus containing a football field, baseball field and tennis courts. The brick building consists of three units, the central unit providing a standard gymnasium and auditorium seating more than 800, also shower-rooms and a cafeteria room. The south uni*- includes shops on the first floor and class rooms and a commercial department above. In the north unit are call rooms and a home economics department on the lower floor, and laboratories, science lecture room and class rooms in the second story. The north and south units may be extended at moderate cost so as to practically double the present capacity of the building. St. Charles has three grade school buildings and a junior high school building. The system is complete, beginning with the kindergarten and going through four years of a standard high school. On November 1, 1926, 875 children were enrolled in the elementary schools and 225 in the Community High School. The High School has courses in English, Mathematics, Social Sciences, Physics, Chem- istry, Biology, Home Economics, Manual Training, Mechanical Drawing, Languages and Commercial Work. It is accredited with the North Central Association of Secondary Schools, the University of Illinois, and is a secondary school co-operating with the Univers- ity of Chicago. The grade school district recently acquired an inheritance of about $100,000.00 by the will of the late Charles H. Haines, a pioneer citizen who was President of the Board of Education for many^years. [22] SCHOOL ATHLETICS In athletics the High School is a member of the Little Seven Conference. In 1926 and 1925, St. Charles won the heavyweight foot ball championship, scoring a total of 409 points to its opponent's 18 points for the two years. St. Charles was not scored on in 1926. The 1925 lightweight basket ball championship was also won by the local team. High schools of Wheaton, Naperville, Sycamore, Dundee, Batavia and Geneva furnish the other teams in the Conference. MT. ST. MARY'S ACADEMY An important part of St. Charles' $2,000, C00.C0 building boom was the new $200,000.00 school at Mt. St. Mary's Academy. Conducted by the Sisters of St. Dominic, this school is situated on a beautiful site overlooking old green meadows and the Fox River. The first' flcor contains a cafeteria, class rooms, also a combination auditorium and gymnasium, extending through 2 stories, with ample showers and lockers. The Auditorium will accommodate 500. On the second floor are the chapel and more class rooms. Laboratories for Domestic Science, Physics and Chemistry, a Music Studio and ten sound-proof rooms for piano practice are in the top story. The building is fire-proof in construction throughout and equipped with the most modern appliances for heating and ventilation. PUBLIC LIBRARY The St. Charles Library Board owns the block of ground at East Main Street and Fifth Avenue South, where its Colonial brick building is surrounded by trees and shrubs and hedges. The Library was established April 1, 1906 and the Building's cost back in 1908 was $15,000.00 of which the Carnegie Library Fund donated $12,500.00. In November, 1926, the number of volumes was 8,721. Mrs. C. M. J. Farson has been President of the Board since the organisation of the Library. [23 "St. Charles * * has taken the lead and set the pace among all towns of its size in several projects which are ma\ing St. Charles famous." — Mr. Jacob L. Crane, Jr. HOSPITAL AND HEALTH St. Charles City Hospital at Park Avenue and Second Avenue North is a two-story brick man' sion with a detached dormitory and spacious grounds overlooking Pottawatomie Park and the River. At present it has twenty beds, and about 250 patients are treated m it yearly from here and surrounding districts. The Hospital has recently been left a handsome bequest in the will of a local Civil War Veteran. An efficient Health Officer, a school nurse and dentist are great helps in keeping up the health standard of young and old. A Milk Ordinance specifying milk from healthy, disease-free cows, and forbidding the sale of raw milk if not certified was passed by the City Council in March, 1926. The St. Charles death rate per thousand during 1926 was 11.92 which compares not unfavorably with Chicago's record of 11.40. St. Charles birth rate in 1926 exceeded the death rate by fifty-four percent. Was Lincoln in St. Charles 1 A loca /legend insists that he and his famous tall hat entered this little building to consult with the late Judge W. D. Barry. L.O.O.M. Building "Mooseheart is in Kane County, Illi- nois, because of a scientific study b;y the best men of the Ration who examined conditions in community after community to determine which was the very best place in the world for boys and girls to become men and women." — Mr. Rodney L. Brandon r^ ^S In the Arcada is to be found a grandeur seldom approached.'" — Ex- hibitor's Herald. ARCADA THEATRE Elmer Behrns, Architect The Arcada Building at East Main Street and First Avenue South is a $500,000.00 ex- ample of Mr. Lester J. Norris' confidence in the future of St. Charles. The famous Arcada Theatre, also shops, offices and lodge rooms and the Chronicle Publishing Co. are housed in this successful adaption of the Venetio' Spanish style. There are unusual floors and walls, and a delightful semblance of mellow age throughout. The entrance to the Arcada Theatre is through an arcade whereof the ceiling'beams are ornamented with carved Indian heads de- signed by Mr. Norris. The theatre was built and decorated with a scrupulous regard for taste and harmony, and is equipped with today's (or tomorrow's) accessories a nd safety precautions. There are Mission bells and a pipe organ, draperies and Andalusian jars bathed in electric light as blue as Maxfield Parnsh's skies. It will seat over 1000 people, and the stage is the biggest in the Fox River Valley. The report of Mr. Lester B. Colby of the Illinois Chamber of Commerce describes the place with such words as "magnificent," "colorful,' 1 "coral, gold and other radiant hues, 1 ' and then he says: "I talked with an expert theatre designer who came to St. Charles to look it over. He remarked with enthusiasm : 'Theater builders will come from all over the United States to see this theatre before starting projects. It is a step ahead. It is wonderful. There is no other like it. I am charmed.' " It seems to us that, just as the Country Club typifies out-of-doors recreational advan' tages in St. Charles, the Arcada Theatre embodies the opportunity for year 'round amuse' merit in this City — "a step ahead, 11 "wonderful," "no other like it." [25] ST. CHARLES COUNTRY CLUB Eighteen holes of golf in a naturally rolling course with water-hazards, a Club House that has been described as "punctilious perfection," all on the outskirts of the city on a good road and with a waiting-station on the electric railway — that is the St. Charles Country Club ! The need for such an organization (which will be even greater within the next year or two) was noted and supplied by the foresight of Mr. Lester J. Norris. The course is a part of his vast holdings northeast of St. Charles, and is another example of the taste and thoroughness with which he does things. He has achieved the ideal terrain: rolling turf, foliage and water. Into this composition, the Club House with its roofs and chim- neys blends as nicely as though it had grown out of the ground along with the oak grove. It is already a social center of the smart life in our community. ST. CHARLES HAS FOUR PARKS There are four parks in St. Charles : Pottawatomie Park, the Public Square, Lincoln Park and Haseltine Park. The township controls the largest and best known of these, Pottawatomie Park. Here are 20 acres of natural wood-land sloping down to a clean-cut river-bank. Added improvements are in keeping with this rustic setting, and consist of walks, terraces, fountains, buildings and play-ground equipment. Bathing and boating are good here. Lincoln Park on the West Side and the Public Square at the top of East Main Street have fine old trees, shrubbery, benches, fountains and band-stands. [26] ' :1J E. J. BAKER'S NEW $600,000.00 HOTEL Seventy years ago when St. Charles was much smaller than it is now, it had four or five big brick hotels. Conditions changed; come were pulled down and some were altered for other lines of business. The White Front Hotel, however, has cared for local transient guests since pioneer days, and is still doing so. It has expanded along with the community, and has adapted itself to new ways, but it has never changed its first standard of cordial hospitality. The rush of modern pioneers to St. Charles will soon be accommodated by a fire-proof hostelry on the Chicago-Iowa Trail (Route 64) and Route 22, and one-half mile from the Lincoln Highway. In September 1926, ground was broken for Mr. E. J. Baker's new $600,000.00 riverside hotel, and completion of this five-story and basement structure is promised by the summer 1927. Hotel St. Charles it will be, and, in location and completeness, the finest in the Fox River Valley. Messrs. Wolf, Sexton, Harper 6? Trueax (who also designed the Com- munity Center and the National Bank Building) are the architects. The hotel's 150 feet of West Main Street frontage will be occupied on the ground floor by the lobby and shops. There will be an elliptic dining-room with a glass-floored ball-room on the mezzanine and 60 rooms for transients. The fourth and fifth floors will consist of small furnished apartments, in one of which Mr. and Mrs. Baker expect to live. A riverside promenade is planned in the rear of the premises where there is also ample space for future expansion. The conception and erection of this hotel is just another indication of Mr. Baker's pride and faith in his home city. It is also a proof of the recent back-to-the-highways trend in national travel and transportation, and a glorious monument to those five hotels that flourished here before our roads were eclipsed by steam railways. "St. Charles is a delightful city with many fine old-fashioned homes and estimable people. Among the latter are Ed Ba\er and his niece, Mrs. Lester A[orns. . . . A community house, a ban\ building, a theater, a golf course, a new hotel — all de- signed and built in the most approved architectural style and without stint in the use of money, are present monuments to their generosity as well as civic pride." — Richard Lowrie in "Elgin Courier'T^ews" X • ^ ZONING AND PLANNING COMMISSION RESTRICTED SUBDIVISION-DUNHAM WOODS FAIRFIELD ADDITION ZONING AND PLANNING COMMISSION was appointed a few months ago for the City of St. Charles, following the adoption by the City Council of the necessary preliminary ordinances. This Commission is rapidly work' ing out a zoning and general City Plan. Mr. Jacob L. Crane, Jr., a city planning expert of national prominence who has been consulted in the work says: "Several factors of primary importance stand out in the consideration of zoning and town-planning for St. Charles. "First, the strategic and beautiful situation of this little city unquestionably insures its growth both as a suburban residential community and as a center for smaller, clean, electrical industries. The scenic setting on the Fox River, the available and improving transportation, highway connections, unlimited power and water supply for industries, and the finest type of high rolling land for residential and recreational development are all items in the forecasting of certain growth of population. "The second factor is unique. St. Charles, through the civic interest of a number of its citizens, has taken the lead and set the pace among all the towns of its size in several projects which are making St. Charles famous, namely, the community building, the new bank, theatre and hotel. These projects have aroused St. Charles to a degree of civic pride and civic ambition which sets the town apart among its contemporaries, and which will have a marked effect upon the success of an ambitiously, but carefully comprehensive civic development plan and program. "Third, in the district adjacent to the City of St. Charles several great land develop- ment operations have been started. Each of these will contribute to the development of the city and each will be a sort of suburb to St. Charles until such time as they may be annexed to the city. Dunham Woods is probably the largest and best known of these land development operations, and this project with its 2200 acres of the highest class of resi' dential development is bound to have an influence on the rate and character of the growth of St. Charles. The situation of Dunham Woods and St. Charles so close to each other is of great advantage to both. 11 Dunham Woods is not as yet on the market, but for those interested in restricted subdivisions, attention may be called to the Fairfield Addition in the Southwest part of the city. This real estate development is bounded on the East by Anderson Boulevard with the C. A. 6? E. Ry. Line on the South by the City Limits, on the West by Fifth Street South and on the North by Home Street, and offers unusually attractive features to seekers of homes or homcsites in a reasonably restricted subdivision. There are 58 lots available for a prospective buyer at present, so the proprietors, Messrs. B. Cimaglio 6? Co. of 7039 W. Grand Ave., Chicago, advise at prices ranging from $35.00 to $50.00 per front foot (subject to change without notice). No house costing less than $10,000.00 may be built on Anderson Blvd., and none costing less than $7,500.00 may be built on Fourth and Fifth Streets. This assures a high type of homes, and, with che restrictions that are being worked out by the Zoning and Planning Commission, pro- vides ample protection on the investment. SOME ST. CHARLES HOMES "I have traveled all over the world, I have seen hills much higher and streams much deeper, but to me the Fox River Valley is the most beautiful I have ever seen. It is nature" s mas' terpiece. It is not^over* done."" ■ — Mr. Emerson Hough ST. CHARLES 1 OLDEST HOME-Built 1836 ^ Still occupied by Mr. Geo. W. Minard, Civil War Veteran, and son of towns founder. Mr. tAinard was bom here 2H I, fi\ »ir.. .--■ :,: ■:.;.;:,;■: [35] V RESIDENTIAL REAL ESTATE GENERALLY BUILDER'S DIRECTORY--ST. CHARLES BUILDING 6? LOAN ASSOCIATION HERE are within the city limits of St. Charles about 300 vacant lots varying in si? from fifty feet by one hundred feet to an acre or more, and in price fro:- $300.00 to $2000.00. Nearly all of these lots have water, sewers, gas and electric light and power available, and many are on paved streets with sidewalks built. Home building costs average about $1000.00 per room for modern dwellings. From the St. Charles Building & Loan Assn. Banks and other loan organisations, loans may be obtained at approximately 6%. Real estate values are steadily advancing with the healthy growth of St. Charles in population and attractiveness. Home rentals run from $25.00 to $50.00 per month for modern homes. Just outside the city limits there is much activity in suburban home building and lot subdivisions, and many of these lots having River frontage or River view locations are for sale at reasonable cost. The foregoing information may be verified and amplified by communicating with any of those — within the scope of their particular trade or business — listed alphabetically in the following: BUILDER'S DIRECTORY (Address,. St. Charles, Illinois) ARCHITECTS— F. B. Gray, Wolf, Sexton, Harper & Trueax. BROKERS (REAL ESTATE)— E. A. Gray, 606, 6th Ave. South, Frank Rockwell, St. Charles Realty Co., Stewart & Nord, uy 2 E. Main St. CONTRACTORS— (a) GENERAL— C. A. An- derson, Hans Jensen, Max A. Lehman &•? Sons. (b)— CARPENTERS— Dani Bowen, Del De- Long, Anund Nelson, Emil Nelson, P. N. Roy, Wm. Seputis, Bernard Snelting, C. P. Swanson, Edmond VanDerZwalm. (c)— ELECTRICAL— Northern Illinois Electric Service Co., Public Service Co. of Northern Illinois LeRoy W. Rehm. (d)— MASONS, BRICKLAYERS— A. S. Caustin, Chas. H. Caustin, Jr., Andrew M. Johnson. (e)— PAINTERS &> PAPERERS— Ed. Anderson, Martin Anderson, Clyde Babbitt, Chas. Backstrom, St. Charles Building The ST. CHARLES BUILDING 6? LOAN ASSO- CIATION, organized among the first in the State in 1891, has been mainly responsible for the great percentage of home-owners in St. Charles, and has grown to be a large, efficient, prosperous public servant. Building and loan associations have become very important, if not necessary, factors in the home- building program of this country. Chas. Gabrielson, G. E. Holden 6? Son, Axel Lind- quist, Locke & Naughton, Geo. W. Nelson, Howard Norris. (f)— PLASTERERS— Gordon L. Fiske, Chas. Isackson, Fobe Nord. (g)— PLUMBERS— John Anderson, Philip Harter, R. L. Wagner. (h)— TIN SMITHS— Louis Olson, Martin A. Schultz. HARDWARE— A. H. Borman 6? Co., George A. Essig. LOAN AGENTS— H. G. Hempstead, C. L. ,Hunt, Frank Rockwell, St. Charles Building 6? Loan Assn. LUMBER DEALERS— Chas. A. Harbaugh Lum- ber Co., M. A. Joshel & Bros., P. S. Nichol Lumber Co. SURVEYORS— J. W. Wilson. and Loan Association Its present capital stock is $2,000,000.00. Officers and directors are Nate C. Brown, President, W. L. Eddy, Vice-President, C. J., Marvin, Secretary, J. H. Andrews, A. G. Anderson, L. C. Caldwell, J. W. Gartner, Evar Larson, J. T. McConkey and R. W. Matteson. Louis Rockwell is Association Attorney. The semi-annual statement for period ending Oct. 31, 1926 showed total assets and liabilities of $915,- 703.43 with profits of $165,003.93 and a total amount of loans for those 6 months of $100,000.00. "Within the next twenty five years 1,000,000 newcomers will settle in Suburban Chicago the population forecasters say." — Chicago Daily J^lews, June 2, 1926. \ 32 TRANSPORTATION NEW INDUSTRIES -CHAMBER OF COMMERCE TRANSPORTATION The main line of the Chicago Great Western Railroad runs through the city, and along its right-of-way are still available many desirable industrial sites. ^ A 2-mile spur from the Galena Division of the Chicago and Northwestern Railw /.reaches the heartof the city with ample trackage facilities for increased freight patronage. mmi The Elgin, Joliet 6? Eastern Railroad (outer belt line) passes within about 3 miles of the city limits. Electric transportation is supplied by two companies. The Aurora, Elgin 6? Fox River Electric Co. gives hourly service with Elgin, Aurora and intervening Valley cities. The street cars came here in 1896 when^they were run on a two-hour schedule between St. Charles and Elgin; in 1900 the lines were completed and through service from Aurora to Elgin began. The first cars were the single-truck, small city cars. In 1898 the 36-seat, double-truck cars with hand brakes were put into service, to be replaced in 1902 by the 48-seat, air-brake car with smoking compartment; 1923 brought the most modern interurban car with leather seats, air brakes, auto' matic door operators and all the other latest equipment and safety devices. Express cars are also operated. Service is now hourly but plans are about completed to effect a half hour schedule. This Company has kept pace with the development of the Fox River Valley, and we are assured that when more cars are needed, more will be provided. The Chicago, Aurora 6? Elgin Railroad Co. furnish electric transportation to Chicago. This line began operating in 1908 when the cars were run to Laramie Avenue and passengers transferred to the Metropolitan Elevated Lines. In 1905 cars were operated to the Wells Street Terminal which is in downtown Chicago. The Lincoln Highway and Roosevelt Road tie in to St. Charles over paved highways, and the early com' pletion of the Chicago-Iowa Trail from Sycamore through St. Charles to Chicago over Route 64 and North Avenue is in prospect, all being available for truck transportation. INDUSTRIES There are scores of worthy concerns struggling in lofts, hampered by labor conditions, crowded for space and forced to truck their products to the nearest railway, who could move here and grow up with St. Charles with advantage to both. This has been done. If such a concern is interested in locating in St. Charles and can show a thriving business, a worthy'product and a valuable good will, or any of these, it will meet with prompt co-operation from local business interests and capital. The problem is to discover and prove such possible industries, and that is a task our Chamber of Commerce is now cheerfully performing. St. Charles already has over a dozen selected factories employing a high grade of labor. Real estate values are as yet uninflated. Two-fifths of its streets are already paved; two-thirds of its families own their homes. Such a community will naturally attract folk who are thrifty, home-loving and law-abiding, and it is this type of population only that St. Charles seeks. CONCLUSION No work is complete. This little book has not told you just what you want to know about St. Charles? At a desk in the new Community Center at St. Charles is one who can. He will answer your inquiries intelligently, promptly and cheerfully. He will mail you a map of the City on written request. That is one reason why he is there. Address him thus : Secretary, CHAMBER of COMMERCE 101 SECOND STREET, SOUTH ST. CHARLES, ILLINOIS HISTORICAL SUMMARY: 1673-1927 THE first white folk in our part of the Fox River Valley were undoubtedly those hardy Frenchmen whose energy and vision won and held it for nearly a century. The first white settlers in St. Charles were Hoosiers who arrived here in 1832. Then came the Yankees, New York State pioneers, Canadian ex-Tories, closely followed by the Scotch, Irish, Germans, and, later, by Scandinavians, Belgians and Lithuanians. The first town plat was recorded in 1837; St. Charles was incorporated as a city in 1874. At one time St. Charles was called the logical metropolis of Northern Illinois, and immigrants have come here in preference to the lake port by Fort Dearborn. Indeed, one of our shrewdest Yankee pioneers disposed of his Chicago holdings to buy and plat the Original Town cut here. (No, you're wrong; he died the richest man in Kane County.) The earliest pictures of St. Charles show shady streets, substantial homes, brick business blocks, and the spires and cupolas of church and school punctuating the leafy sky-line. Thrift, enterprise, wealth and romance were here. The Autumn nights were lighted by the burning straw stacks for miles around, until the paper mill, one of the first in the West, gave a market for this by-product of wheat growing. History was being made in those days. A little Woods volunteer returned from the Mexican War so enamoured of the conquered regions that he sold out and went overland to California where he prospered and ended his days, no doubt, as a "native son. 11 One of our landlords went to Charleston and Baltimore as a delegate to the Democratic con- ventions that split the party and really, elected the first President from this State. A local legend insists that Lincoln was once in St. Charles; that he and his famous tall hat went into Judge William D. Barry's little East Main Street office where he made enquiries about some legal matter which had brought him to this part of the State. It is a fact that Mrs. Lincoln spent a Winter here during the early seventies. Lillian Russell spent the best years of her girlhood in St. Charles, thereby, as many of us will admit, acquiring the beauty that was to make her famous. Kane County has been credited with the largest volunteer percentage of any County in the United States during the Civil War, and there are those who claim that St. Charles was the County's leader in this respect. Two famous cavalry regiments (the 8th and 17th) were recruited here, and local soldiers served in the Peninsular campaigns, and under Grant, and marched with Sherman to the sea. When wheat growing was no longer profitable, our farmers tried dairying and in time this Valley became famous for its butter and cheese. The next city up-stream fixed the world's price of butter for years. Later on condensed milk was produced here. It is said that underneath the cinders on the East shore of the mill-pond are layers of buried cans whose contents were spoiled during the patient experiments that finally discovered and perfected St. Charles Evaporated Cream. This local product had a world-wide market for years. It helped feed homesteaders in the far West, Klondyke gold-seekers and diamond miners in South Africa. Ours is a region of big red barns and silos, black and white cows and level black cornfields. , History does repeat itself. The re-discovery of St. Charles on the Fox River has already begun. New settlers are coming West. The advance scouts do not arrive in ox-carts over the prairie, but in the family car over the new paved roads. They have already sent back word to their friends in Chicago that here is the place to own a home and bring up the children. They tell of the peculiar charm and healthful advantages of this part of the Fox River Valley and of St. Charles with its fine community spirit, its schools, churches, transportation facilities and uninflated values. These new pioneers are the most laudatory historians that St. Charles has. INDEX Page Academy, Mt. St. Mary's 23 A. E. 6? F. R. Electric Co 33 Anderson Ice Cream Co 15 Arcada Theatre 25 Architects 32 Assessed Valuation, Gain in 16 Baker, Henry R. Community Center • 6 Banks, new $200,000.00 20 Bathing, Boating 17 Birth Rate 24 Brandon, Rodney L., on Fox River 24 Brokers, Real Estate 32 Builder's Directory 32 Building &? Loan Assn 32 Cable Company 10 Census, 1926 Federal 16 C. A. 6? E. Electric R. R. Co 33 C. G. W. R. R 33 Chamber of Commerce 33 Chicago Commuters, No. of 16 Chicago Commutation Schedules , 21 Chronicle Publishing Co 15-25 Churches 9 City Government 16 Clubs, Civic and Service 21 C. 6? N. W. Ry 33 Community Center, $200,000.00 6 Conservancy District 17 Contractors, listed 32 Country Club 26 Cost of Homes and Lots 32 Crane, Jacob L., on St. Charles 24-28 Crissey, Forrest, on Fox River 3 Crown Electrical Mfg. Co 12 Death Rate, compared with Chicago's 24 Disease Prevention 24 Dunham Wood 28 Electric Light and Power Service 8 Electric Railways 33 Employed, Total in Factories 16 Evans' Game Farm 5 Evans, Samuel, on St. Charles 36 Factories, listed 10 to 16 Factories, Type sought 33 Factories, No. of Hands 16 Fairfield Addition 28 Finances, City 16 Financing a Ho ie Here 32 Fire Rates and Prevention 16 Fishing, 16 lb. Pickerel 17-18 Fox River 17 Fox River Water Analysed 17 Fraternal Societies 21 Gain in Real Estate Valuation 16 Gain in Population 16 Game Farm, Evans' 5 Gas Service 8 Globe Music Co 14 Golf Course 26 Glenn Mfg. Co 13 Health Precautions, City 24 Historical Summary 34 Holmstrom, C. H. fe? Co 14 Homes, Typical St. Charles 29 to 32 Homes, Percentage Owned 16 Homes, Cost and Rentals 32 Hospitals 24 Hotels, new $600,000.00 27 Hough, Emerson, on Fox River 29 Illinois Bell Telephone Co 8 Illinois Cleaners & Dyers 15 Indebtedness, City (Nil) 16 Industries, kind wanted 33 Industries, listed 10 Janes & Kirtland, Inc 11 JensenKohlert Mfg. Co 13 Judd, R.C 15 Page Kessinger, Hon. Harold, on Fox River 9 Library, Public 23 Light Service 8 Lipton, Sir Thos., o^ Fox River 2 Lloyd George, David, on Fox River 36 Loan Agents and Rates 32 Lodges, listed 21 Lots, Cost of 32 Lumber Dealers 32 Map, St. Charles and Environs 36 Milk Ordinance 24 McCornack Oil Co 15 Moline Malleable Iron Co 11 Mt. St. Mary's Academy 23 Nature's Masterpiece 29 Newcombe-Hawley, Inc 13 Norris', Lester J., Holdings 17-26 Oak Ridge Camp 17 Office, Chamber of Commerce 33 Orchard Hill 17 Organizations, Social, Benevolent 21 Parks and Play Grounds 26 Paved Highways 33 Paved Streets, City 16 Pike, S. W., Seedsman, Inc 15 Pinelands 17 Population, Gain in 16 Population, Type Sought 33 Postal Receipts 16 Pottawatomie Park 17-26 Power, Electric and Water 8 Power Rates 8 Public Service Co. of Northern Illinois 8 Public Utility Rates 8 Publishing Co., Chronicle 15-25 Railway Connections 33 Railway "Schedules 21 Rates, Birth and Death 24 Rates, Insurance 16 Real Estate Values 32 Real Estate Valuations 16 Real Estate Brokers 32 Receipts, Postal, Gain In 16 Rentals, Real Estate 32 River Front Property 32 iVestricted Subdivisions 28 St. Charles Building & Loan Assn 32 St. Charles Fixture Mfg. Co 12 St. Charles Laundry Co 12 St. Charles Memorial Works 15 St. Charles Net and Hammock Co 13 St. Charles Nickel Works 14 St. Charles Paper Box Co 14 St. Charles School for Boys 5 Schedules, Time 21 Schools, new $460,000.00 22 Schwab, Chas. M., on Fox River 11 Sewers, Mileage 16 Street Car Service 33 Streets, Paved Mileage and Per cent 16 Street Mileage 16 Subdivisions, Restricted 28 Surveyors 32 Tax Rate, City 16 Tax Rate, Compared with Chicago's 16 Theatre, Arcada 25 Time Tables 21 Transportation 33 Underwoods 17 Universal Press 14 Vacant Lots, Value 32 Values, Real Estate 32 Water Mains, Mileage 16 Water, River Analysed 17 Western United Gas 6? Electric Co 8 World's Largest Wild Game Farm 5 Zoning Commission 28 "A radical anch.profcund change is taking place in the attitude of city dwellers in America towards country living. Tho^.e who can 'afford to live in the country, at least through the open season, are making the exchange in constantly increasing numbers. This is the reason why the beautiful Fox River Valley will seen have a population which now seems impossible to most of its inhabitants. Chicago and its mere crowded suburbs are going to send us those of their people who have awakened to the fact that a well-rounded life calls for something of the freedom, the activity and the contact with nature which can be had only in the country. The wealthy and well-to-do people of the English cities learned this long ago. * * * 'Tm glad that I live in a community that is keenly appreciative of all this. In building for the future St. Charles is in the lead. In this it exemplifies the spirit of the entire Fox River Valley/ 1 — K-R. Samuel Evans, of Wallace Evans' Cair.e Farm Mr. DAVID LLOYD GEORGE passed through St. Charles in the Autumn of 1923. The St. Charles Chronicle of Oct. 18, 1923, said of this visit to our region: "He paid a wonderful tribute to the beauty of the roadway through which he fared, the road from St. Charles * * , which was in a blaze of glory of Autumn colorings en the tree.: and shrubs lining the way. " thisboofyet has cause&you toremember ST. CHARLES 1-for its Natural Beauty; 2-for its Community Center; 3— for its Churches; 4-for its Banks and Industries; S^for its newest High School; 6-for its Arcada Theatre, its Country Club and riverside Hotel; then it has achieved its purpose: becanseyou will then thin\of ST. CHARLES in the FOX RIVER VAilJEY as a city of 1 -Beautiful Environment; 2— Wholesome Community Spirit; 3-Thriving Religious Organizations; 4— Business Prosperity; 5-Modern Educational Facilities; 6-Unique Recreational Opportunities; and your old-fashioned American common sense will advise you to come and verify or disprove our claims for STXHARLES the Beauty Spot of the FOX RIVER VALLEY PRINTED IN ST. CHARLES BY THE CHRONICLE PUBLISHING CO., INC.