St. Charles, Illinois

Early history

St. Charles was the location of the Native American community for the chief of the Pottawatomie that inhabited the area. A city park overlooking the river was dedicated to the Native Americans.^[10] After the Black Hawk War in 1832, the entire area of the Fox Valley was opened to American settlement. Evan Shelby and William Franklin staked the first claim in what is now St. Charles in 1833. They came back in 1834 with their families from Indiana and were joined by over a dozen other families later that year. The township was initially known as Charleston, but this name was already taken by the downstate city of Charleston, Illinois, so the name of St. Charles (suggested by S. S. Jones, a lawyer) was adopted in 1839.^[11] St. Charles became incorporated as a city February 9, 1839, and reincorporated October 17, 1874 (under the 1870 Illinois Constitution).^[12]

Underground Railroad

Widespread claims of slavery-era Underground Railroad stations operating in St. Charles homes, complete with tunnels and false doorways, have not been historically substantiated. Even so, an active abolitionist group was operating in St. Charles around this time, called the Kane County Anti-Slavery Society. The Society was founded in 1842 and had about 180 members at its peak. The most plausible^[why?] connection to the Underground Railroad in the town is the Wheeler House, built in St. Charles in 1837.^[13]

Transportation history

St. Charles was very isolated early in its existence. The village was located three days away from Chicago, and the Fox River was not navigable for large boats. By the 1850s, St. Charles had begun construction of a plank road to Sycamore but turned down an offer by the Galena and Chicago Union Railroad to construct a line through the town, which was eventually built in nearby Elgin. Lack of regional connections in the early years kept the town relatively small. St. Charles was without a railroad until 1871 when a branch line from Geneva was constructed, and was without a direct connection to Chicago until the 1880s with the coming of the Chicago Great Western Railway.^{[citation needed]}

Streetcar lines along the Fox River between Elgin and Aurora were built through the city in 1896, operated by the Aurora, Elgin and Fox River Electric company. A direct automobile route to Chicago, which eventually became Route 64 (Main Street), was constructed in 1920. Four Illinois state routes including Routes 64, 38 (Lincoln Highway), 25 (5th Avenue), and 31 (2nd Street) now run through the city. Two major Kane County roads also cut through the city; Randall Road on the west side and Kirk Road on the east side.^{[citation needed]}

COVID-19 pandemic

On April 25, 2020 (6 years ago) (2020-04-25), the Kane County Health Department ordered Smithfield Foods to close its meat processing plant because of the COVID-19 pandemic, a local instance of the pandemic's effects on the meat industry in the United States.^[14] On May 2, 2020, after an executive order concerning Chicago-area meat packing plants was signed by President Donald Trump, the facility was reopened.^[15][16]

Racial and ethnic composition

2020 census

As of the 2020 census, St. Charles had a population of 33,081. The median age was 41.9 years. 21.7% of residents were under the age of 18 and 17.9% of residents were 65 years of age or older. For every 100 females there were 96.0 males, and for every 100 females age 18 and over there were 93.8 males age 18 and over.^[25][26]

99.3% of residents lived in urban areas, while 0.7% lived in rural areas.^[27]

The city contained 13,264 households and 8,843 families; 29.5% had children under the age of 18 living in them. Of all households, 53.2% were married-couple households, 15.7% were households with a male householder and no spouse or partner present, and 25.0% were households with a female householder and no spouse or partner present. About 27.3% of all households were made up of individuals and 11.6% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older.^[25]

There were 13,809 housing units, of which 3.9% were vacant. The homeowner vacancy rate was 1.0% and the rental vacancy rate was 5.8%.^[25]

2023 American Community Survey

According to the 2023 American Community Survey, the city had a median household income of $115,350. Approximately 3.9% of the population lived at or below the poverty line. St. Charles had an estimated 67.0% employment rate, with 51.2% of the population holding a bachelor's degree or higher and 94.7% holding a high school diploma.^[28]

Housing market

According to realtor website Zillow, the average price of a home as of October 31, 2025, in St. Charles is $451,481.^[29]

Top employers

According to the city's 2025 Annual Comprehensive Financial Report,^[30] the largest employers in the city are:

Piano-making was a major industry in St. Charles in the first three decades of the 20th century. The arrival of the Chicago Great Western Railway enabled The Cable Co., one of the country's largest producers of pianos and reed organs, to build a factory on 11 acres (4.5 hectares) of land at 410 South 1st Street in 1901.^[31]

Employing up to 500 workers:

"[The piano factory] gave St. Charles an international flavor. Ivory for piano keys came from India and Africa. Wool for the hammers came from Australia. Rich wood veneers were imported from Mexico, South America and the gold coast of Africa. In return, Cable distributed its pianos all over the world and had dealers in Spain, Italy, British East Africa, Japan, Australia, and other key foreign places."^[31]

On January 7, 1937 (89 years ago) (1937-01-07), the St. Charles factory closed,^[31] having been sold to the W.H. Howell company, which made furniture there until 1980.^[32] The building reopened in May 1986 as the indoor Piano Factory Outlet Mall, whose outlet stores included Corning, American Tourister, Carter's, Pfalzgraff, and Anchor Hocking.^[32] It was foreclosed and closed in 1997.^[32][33] The building was razed in September 2000 to make way for a residential development; the site is now occupied by condominiums and mixed-use buildings.^[32]

State government

The Illinois Youth Center St. Charles (IYC St. Charles), a juvenile correctional facility of the Illinois Department of Juvenile Justice, is in St. Charles. It opened in December 1904.^[39]

Transportation

Pace provides bus service on Routes 801 and 802 connecting St. Charles to Elgin, Aurora, and other destinations.^[40] The Chicago & North Western Railway had a branch line to St. Charles. It diverged from the main line at Geneva and closed in 1951. The Chicago Great Western line ran directly through St. Charles and had commuter service until 1906.