The Dearborn House

Nathan H. Dearborn was an early settler in St. Charles, arriving in the summer of 1836. Born in New Hampshire, Dearborn moved to Boston at age seventeen to learn the carpentry trade.

He was a skilled carpenter and iron worker who helped build St. Charles' first sawmill on the Fox River. He also constructed the first frame house in St. Charles from wood cut at the mill.

Dearborn was a successful businessman and community leader. He owned a commercial building on the northwest corner of Main and Second Streets, which he rented to various businesses. He served for many years as Justice of the Peace, Election Judge, and Commissioner of Highways.

This Gothic Revival-style house was constructed by Nathan Dearborn in 1840. It remained a private residence until 2000, when Lou Little and Royanne Oehlerking established their business in the building, the Dearborn House Antiques and Garden Company. The shop was a mainstay of the historic St. Charles Century Corners Shopping District until it closed in 2010. Frances Spear reopened the Dearborn House Antiques and Garden business in October 2011.

Sources

• Commemorative Biographical and Historical Record of Kane County, Illinois. Chicago: Beers, Legget, 1888

• "Ethel Dearborn Marsden, Obituary, 1934." St. Charles Chronicle 1 November 1934.

• Passing in Review: Reminiscences of Men Who Have Lived in St. Charles, by Pliny A. Durant