St. Charles, Missouri

**St. Charles** (; Spanish: "San Carlos") is a city in St. Charles County, Missouri. In 2020 there were 70,493 people living in the city. St. Charles is the second largest city, and the county seat of St. Charles County. It is northwest of St. Louis, Missouri on the Missouri River. It is the third oldest city west of the Mississippi. It began in 1765 as _Les Petites Côtes_, "The Little Hills", named by Louis Blanchette, a French Canadian fur trader. The town was the starting point for the Lewis and Clark Expedition in 1804. The city served as the first Missouri capital from 1821 to 1826.  The Saint Rose Philippine Duchesne shrine is in Saint Charles. It is also the home of the St. Louis National Weather Service Forecast Office, serving central, east-central and northeastern Missouri, as well as west-central and southwest Illinois.

### Louis Blanchette

Louis Blanchette was a French Canadian who went to the Americas for adventure. Blanchette settled in Saint Charles in 1769 under the authority of the Spanish governor of Upper Louisiana. He was the civil and military leader until his death in 1793. About 25 buildings were built. Although the settlement was under Spanish control, most settlers were French Canadians.

### Fort San Carlos

The first church, built in 1791, was dedicated to San Carlos Borromeo, and the town became known as _San Carlos del Misuri_: "St. Charles of the Missouri". This church was destroyed by a tornado in 1916. The Spanish Lieutenant-Governor Carlos de Hault de Lassus appointed Daniel Boone commandant of the Femme Osage District, which he served until the United States government bought the area in the Louisiana Purchase in 1804. The name of the town, San Carlos, was anglicized (turned into English) to become St. Charles.

### State capital and growth

Missouri became a US state in 1821. The government decided to build a new state capital, the "City of Jefferson", in the center of the state on the Missouri River. A temporary capital was needed, and St. Charles beat eight other cities in a competition to be the temporary capitol. It offered free meeting space for the legislature in rooms above a hardware store.  This building is preserved as the First Missouri State Capitol State Historic Site. It is open to tourists. The Missouri government met there until Jefferson City was ready in 1826.

St. Charles, Missouri is where the first claimed interstate project started in 1956. A highway sign making this claim is placed off of Interstate 70 going westbound to the right of the first capital exit.

## Education

The City of St. Charles school district has six elementary schools, two middle schools, two high schools, and the Lewis & Clark Career Center.

Lindenwood University was started in 1827 by Major George Sibley and his wife Mary as a women's school named Lindenwood School For Girls. The school is the is the second-oldest higher-education institution west of the Mississippi River.

St. Charles was also home to St. Charles College (Missouri) (now closed).

## Top employers

A financial report in 2015 listed the largest employers in the city as:

|#|Employer|# of Employees|
| --- | --- | --- |
|1|Ameristar Casinos|1,620|
|2|St. Charles County|1,500|
|3|SSM St. Joseph Health Center|1,352|
|4|Boeing|1,170|
|5|City of St. Charles School District|852|
|6|Client Services Inc.|698|
|7|Lindenwood University|618|
|8|AT&T Missouri|600|
|9|Central States Coca-Cola|500|
|10|City of St. Charles|494|

## Transportation

St. Charles was home to the first interstate highway project in the nation.
Major highways include Interstate 70, Interstate 64, Missouri 370, Missouri 94, and Missouri 364. The city is also served by the St. Charles Area Transit bus system.

## Geography

Saint Charles is located at  (38.788698, -90.511764).  According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 25.7 square miles (66.5 km²), of which, 25.2 square miles (65.2 km²) of it is land and 0.5 square miles (1.3 km²) of it (1.94%) is water.

## References

- National Register of Historic Places - Nomination Forms
    - St. Charles Historic District (Boundary Increase #1). #87000903

## Other websites

- Saint Charles City
- Greater St. Charles Convention and Visitors Bureau
- St. Charles City-County Library District
- St. Charles Chamber of Commerce
- Historic maps of St. Charles in the Sanborn Maps of Missouri Collection  at the University of Missouri

## Infobox (settlement)

- **name**: St. Charles, Missouri
- **settlement type**: City
- **image skyline**: Historic_Saint_Charles_Main_Street_3.jpg
- **imagesize**: 250px
- **image caption**: Historic Main Street
- **image flag**: Flag of St. Charles, Missouri.svg
- **image map**: St._Charles_County_Missouri_Incorporated_and_Unincorporated_areas_St._Charles_Highlighted.svg
- **mapsize**: 250px
- **map caption**: Location in the state of Missouri
- **subdivision type**: Country
- **subdivision type1**: U.S. state, State
- **subdivision type2**: List of counties in Missouri, County
- **subdivision name**: United States
- **subdivision name1**: Missouri
- **subdivision name2**: Saint Charles County, Missouri, Saint Charles
- **leader title**: Mayor
- **unit pref**: Imperial
- **area total km2**: 66.48
- **area land km2**: 65.19
- **area water km2**: 1.29
- **area total sq mi**: 25.67
- **area land sq mi**: 25.17
- **area water sq mi**: 0.50
- **population as of**: 2020 United States Census, 2020
- **population total**: 70493
- **population density km2**: 1081.40
- **population density sq mi**: 2800.79
- **timezone**: Central Time Zone (North America), CST
- **utc offset**: −6
- **timezone dst**: Central Time Zone (North America), CDT
- **utc offset dst**: −5
- **area codes**: Area code 636, 636, Area code 314, 314
- **postal code type**: ZIP Codes
- **postal code**: 63301-63304
- **website**: [http://www.stcharlescitymo.gov/ www.stcharlescitymo.gov]
- **blank name**: Federal Information Processing Standards, FIPS code
- **blank info**: 29-64082