The City Building is a Registered Historic Place in St. Charles, Illinois. It was the first structure in the city built specifically for government use, and has served variously as town hall, police station, fire house, circuit court, and public works monitoring station.

History

St. Charles,

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. It borders on Lake Michigan to its northeast, the Mississippi River to its west, and the Wabash River, Wabash and Ohio River, Ohio rivers to its ...

was first settled in 1833 and was incorporated as a city in 1874. In the early 1890s, it became apparent that the settlement needed a main government building from which to conduct affairs. Mayor A. H. Bennett commissioned the structure that year, authorizing the purchase of the property from B. T. Hunt for $1,500 in 1891. The St. Charles City Council approved the building on March 12, 1892, accepting a bid from local builder F. W. Alexander for $5,496. The building received its common name from the words "City Building" that were carved into the front of the structure. The building functioned as St. Charles

city hall In local government, a city hall, town hall, civic centre (in the UK or Australia), guildhall, or municipal hall (in the Philippines) is the chief administrative building of a city, town, or other municipality. It usually houses the city o ...

until 1941, and still housed police and fire services until 1962. The 16th Judicial Circuit Court also used the building in the 1950s and 1960s. It was listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...

on March 21, 1979.

Architecture

The circular, brick City Building stands two stories tall, and is an example of

eclectic Eclectic may refer to: Music * ''Eclectic'' (Eric Johnson and Mike Stern album), 2014 * ''Eclectic'' (Big Country album), 1996 * Eclectic Method, name of an audio-visual remix act * Eclecticism in music, the conscious use of styles alien to th ...

influences on

Victorian architecture Victorian architecture is a series of Revivalism (architecture), architectural revival styles in the mid-to-late 19th century. ''Victorian'' refers to the reign of Queen Victoria (1837–1901), called the Victorian era, during which period the st ...

. The building is adjacent to the Fox River (to the west) with its main entrance on the east side at 15 N. Riverside Avenue. The roof is hipped and features a bell tower on the southeastern side, capped with a

Byzantine The Byzantine Empire, also known as the Eastern Roman Empire, was the continuation of the Roman Empire centred on Constantinople during late antiquity and the Middle Ages. Having survived the events that caused the fall of the Western Roman E ...

roof. Several shed dormer windows break through the main roof. The

soffit A soffit is an exterior architectural feature, generally the horizontal, aloft underside of the roof edge. Its archetypal form, sometimes incorporating or implying the projection of rafters or trusses over the exterior of supporting walls, is t ...

is decorated with wood brackets. The front is split into three bays; the middle bay extends beyond the roof to create a large

pediment Pediments are a form of gable in classical architecture, usually of a triangular shape. Pediments are placed above the horizontal structure of the cornice (an elaborated lintel), or entablature if supported by columns.Summerson, 130 In an ...

. This dormer allows for an attic. The main set of double doors is beneath a

stilted arch A stilted arch, also called a surmounted arch, is an arch where the bottom of the intrados consists of vertical sections, or , and the arch springer (architecture), springs from the vertical significantly higher than the impost (architecture), im ...

. Rectangular, double hung windows on the first floor are also beneath stilted arches, with two large windows north of the entrance and a large door (originally for fire engines) on the south. The second floor has symmetrical pairs of windows on either side of the main bay, with three smaller windows on the center bay. On the interior, a straight staircase leads to the second floor, splitting two large rooms on the first floor. The second floor is similarly split into two rooms, with two small rooms above the entrance.

Notes

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External links

National Register of Historic Places Nomination Form
St. Charles, Illinois National Register of Historic Places in Kane County, Illinois Buildings and structures in Kane County, Illinois City and town halls on the National Register of Historic Places in Illinois