Old City Hall

Although St. Charles was incorporated in 1874, St. Charles City's business was conducted in rented buildings until this original City Hall building was constructed in 1892. St. Charles Mayor Arthur A. Bennett purchased the property from Bela Hunt on behalf of the community in February of 1892 and hired F. W. Alexander to construct the $5,496 building.

In late 1891, the possibility of bringing electricity to St. Charles and of St. Charles providing its own power were questions that the City put to its citizens. The City Hall served as the base for the electric utility until 1924 when the city's capacity to generate the electricity had been reached. Buying energy from a private company became the only viable option. In the 1940s, the city began purchasing electricity from Commonwealth Edison. Today, the city continues to buy electricity from Exelon (Com Ed) and the Illinois Municipal Electric Association and continues to maintain electric service through the City of St. Charles Electric Utility (SCMEU) Department.

The Old City Hall served as the center of municipal activity until the adjacent Municipal Center Building was finished in 1940. After 1940, this Romanesque Revival building housed city offices, circuit courts, the St. Charles Electric Department, the St. Charles Fire Department, and maintenance equipment.

Before this building reached its 100th birthday in 1992 it faced an uncertain future. Although the Old City Building has a rich history, city officials during the late 1970s began to mull over the possibility of razing the building rather than restoring it. Thanks to the foresight and efforts of Historical Society members and the building's placement on the National Register of Historic Places, the Old City Building remains standing today. In 1996, the building was covered with foam insulation and dryvit in order to preserve the bricks. 

Sources

• "Building's Fate Still Uncertain." St. Charles Chronicle 13 Oct. 1976, 1.

• "A City Hall." Valley Chronicle 20 Jan. 1892.

• Davies, Tony. "New Faces Enter Old City Hall." St. Charles Chronicle 24 Oct. 1979, 1:3.

• "Electric Light Figures." Valley Chronicle 8 Jan. 1892.

• 'The Election." Valley Chronicle 15 Jan. 1892.

• "First Factory Saw Mill Built on Site in 1836." Supplement to St. Charles Chronicle 29 Aug. 1940.

• Foreman, Gary L. City Lights: The First One Hundred Years of the St. Charrles Electric Utility. St. Charles: St. Charles Electric Utility, 1992.

• Langerstrom, Edward and Leola Brown. History of St. Charles. 1936.

• "Mere Light." Valley Chronicle 25 Dec. 1891.

• "Notice of Special Election." Valley Chronicle 18 Dec. 1891.

• "Old City Hall's New Look Will Curb Deterioration." Kane County Chronicle 3 Apr. 1996.

• Pearson, Ruth Seen. "St. Charles Tries to Save Old City Hall." Daily Courier News 29 Aug. 1978.

• "Post Office, First City Hall in Hopper as New Museum Site." Charlemagne Gazette May 1979. 

• St. Charles Chronicle 9 Jan. 1900.

• Valley Chronicle 5 Feb. 1892.

• "Western United Buys City Fire Barn." St. Charles Chronicle 14 Mar. 1935.