William Beith House

William Beith was born in Scotland in 1818. He learned stone masonry from his father. Beith came to St Charles in 1843 and, with his father, built his first limestone home between 1843 and 1845 on 713 Prairie St. in St. Charles. That home still stands but has been significantly altered. 

In the spring of 1844, he took his first building contract to erect the Congregational Church of St Charles, a river stone structure that has since been covered in stucco. Beith then built the house at 8 Indiana Street between 1845 and 1850.   

Over the next 15 years, Beith was considered one of the most prominent contractors and builders in Kane County, erecting a paper mill, factories, many buildings in Batavia, several churches, as well as the Jennings Seminary, a five-story stone building, and Dunning Block in Aurora. His operations extended to Chicago, where, with a partner, he was primarily interested in contracting.    

In addition to building, Beith was largely involved in starting the manufacture of drain tile in Aurora, supplying tile for hundreds of miles for low and marshy land in Kane County, making it one of the foremost counties for rich farmland.