Historic St. Charles

Historic St. Charles. Early Industry in St. Charles. In the 1830s, early settlers of St. Charles built new industries along the Fox River. By 1950, the town had lumber, flour, grist, paper and carding mills, an iron foundry condensed milk and pottery factories, and a linseed and castor oil plant. Several of these were located near this marker. , , With the transportation opportunities provided by a railroad spur that ran from the trestle bridge to Main Street, St. Charles became a major dairy center by the early 1900s. The St. Charles Condensing Company produced evaporated cream, which won top international awards. The St. Charles Pure Milk Company, precursor of Colonial Café and Ice Cream, built its first milk processing plant on the City's west side. , , Other businesses flourished in this east side district after 1920. Among them, Hawley Products Co. became well-known for radio equipment and Boy Scout and U.S. Army pith helmets. After more than a century, all industry had left this Fox River area, creating space for expansion of the City's fire and police departments. , , [Caption in the upper left:] , The Minnesota and Northwestern Railroad Company completed this railroad bridge over the Fox River in 1886, and passenger service began on July 31, 1887. The fare to Chicago was 99 cents. The railroad reorganized in 1892 to become the Chicago Great Western Railway. , , [Caption in the lower left:] , Workmen constructed a footpath along the Fox River from Malo Street to Pottawatomie Park in the early 1930s. The path was named Langum Trail in honor of St. Charles mayor and physician Ival G. Langum. Among other contributions to the community, Langum established work programs and a soup kitchen for unemployed men and their families during the Great Depression. The path was renamed the Freedom Trail in 1976. , , [Caption in the upper right:] , Simon Anderson (right foreground), founder of the Colonial Ice Cream Company, helps with the company's last ice harvest on the west side of the Fox River at State Street in 1928. Colonial used the ice, packed in saw dust and stored in their ice house, to refrigerate dairy products and to freeze ice cream. , , [Caption in the lower right:] , Smokestacks rise from the St. Charles Condensing and National Milk Sugar factories on the east shore of the river. The Harbaugh Lumber and R.B. Johnson Ice and Coal (far left) companies both sold coal for heating.