St. Charles, Missouri 63301
Admission to interpretive center is free; tour of Capitol building is $4.50. Parking is free.
https://mostateparks.com/park/first-missouri-state-capitol-state-historic-site
In 1820, as Missouri prepared for statehood, an area in the center of the state was chosen for the future state Capitol. As there was in existence no building let alone a town in that area, several communities in the eastern part of the state applied to be the temporary Capitol. This building in St. Charles with an empty upstairs and no rent to the state was chosen to be the temporary Capitol. It served our state from June 4, 1821, to October 1, 1826, on which date the Capitol moved to Jefferson City. We became a state on August 21, 1821.
After years of deterioration, the building was about to be torn down when in 1960, with the aid of a grant, the state purchased the building and spent ten years renovating it. Today the Capitol building is a Missouri State Historic Site and the entire area is known as the St. Charles Historic District. To tour the first Capitol one first enters the interpretive center, a brick building next door to the Capitol building.
To visit the Capitol building, one must take a walking tour. The tours begin hourly and last 45-60 minutes. Below our excellent tour guide showed us the 24-star American flag, a replica of the one that flew over the Capitol in the 1820's.
The tour begins behind the Capitol building where the stairways to the second floor were built. The opening in the building was used for wagons to drive through to get to the ferries and other boats on the river behind the house.
During the renovation other foundations were discovered in the back yard such as this one which was probably for a shed. In addition, in the yard 37 areas that had been homes to privies were found!
One of the reasons - in addition to free rent - that this location was chosen to serve was the close proximity to the Missouri River which is seen here behind the house. The drogtrot - the cabin - seen here was built around the 1820's and was moved here to be part of this historical site.
Upstairs in the Capitol building the rooms are set up similar to how they would have looked in the 1820's. This Senate chambers below held 14 senators. Certainly heated debates of state's rights and slavery filled this room. The Senate and House met for about two months in the winter and in the summer, the times when the men were least needed on their farms. The legislators attended the sessions coming on horseback, and wearing fur
coats, coonskin caps and leather moccasins. Local
residents and tavern keepers offered to house and board the members at a rate of
$2.50/wk. Many members were too poor to pay even this modest fee.
Adjoining the Senate chambers is the House chambers. Representatives would spit chewing tobacco in boxes such as the one in front of the railing or even just spit on the wood floor.
The desk in the front holds many period items.
Next to the House chambers is the committee room. This was also used as a jury room as trials were held in the House chambers.
The last room in the Capitol is the office of the governor. The hanging portrait is of Alexander McNair, the first Governor, who served for four years and two months. He was usually attired in a beaver hat and frock coat.
Horsehair upholstery was common during this period. This horsehair sofa sits in the Governor's office.
The room is furnished with typical 1820's furnishings including this banjo clock.
During this period of the Capitol's existence here, the house was owned by the Peck brothers, Ruluff and Charles. They had built the three buildings which were attached by one saddleback roof. On one side of the first floor was their general store which today is well furnished with merchandise from the 1820's.
Who knew that tea leaves were beautifully imprinted into blocks and then chiseled into hot water to make hot tea! Our guide knew all about it!
Many samples of different Missouri-found fur pelts adorn one counter in recognition of the strong fur-trading in Missouri at this time.
On the other side of the first floor was the home of Ruluff Peck's family. It was all one room - a true open-space floor-plan - with the bedroom in one corner.
The kitchen is on one wall.
And the dining-room pictured below is next to the kitchen. Another corner of the room houses the seating area. The entire family lived in the one room.
After touring the Capitol building we went back to the Interpretive Center to the second floor displays. The displays are easy to follow and informative but the area is small and there are only about 6-10 displays such as the one below. There is a case with artifacts. There is also a 20-minute film in another room.
This display is about the four governors that served at this Capitol.
The first floor houses the gift shop which is full of fun and educational items for children as well as the usual gift store items.
We chose to walk a few blocks to a well-known restaurant and on the way passed this historical building at 401 Main Street.
The church is a French-style vertical log building. The 2004-2008 reconstruction was done with authentic period tools and was perhaps the first time in 200 years that a building in this style was built in North America.
The Mother-In-Law House Restaurant is housed in the first double brick building built in St. Charles. The building was erected in 1861 and the restaurant opened in 1981.
Perhaps because of its longevity, the restaurant is one of the better known of many restaurants in historical St. Charles.
We ordered the chicken salad sandwich with green salad and fruit.
Comments: We all enjoyed our tour of the Capitol building and highly recommend going. I called ahead to confirm that there were no school field trips scheduled for the time we planned to come as this is a popular field trip destination for elementary school children studying Missouri history.
We arrived shortly after it opened on a Thursday and we were fortunate that we were the only ones there so we were given a private tour. There were a few people in the Interpretive Center when we walked through it but again we were alone in the gift shop. Speaking of which, we really found fun things in this gift shop and we all purchased something.
We had an excellent and experienced guide. She explained many things and we always had the opportunity to ask questions. We learned a lot of new things particularly about life in the 1820's in Missouri.
We spent an hour on the tour and then another maybe 20 minutes in the display area and the gift shop. Since we were ready for lunch, we chose not to watch the 20-minute film.
We highly recommend that one visits the Capitol building in spring or fall in that the building has no air conditioning and no heat (except for some heat in the walls.) Several of the rooms were quite chilly on the early March day we visited. Interestingly, the only electricity in the building is one outlet in each room so that a vacuum cleaner can be run. There are period gardens growing in the back if you come during the right season.
Missouri State Parks has a website highlighting each site and it does have some information and a video about this site.
We ate at the Mother-in-Laws House because of its long-standing popularity as a destination restaurant. Our food was good. They had very little business and the service was quick. They are known for their desserts but we did not try any.
There is free street side parking on Main Street. There are also parking lots between the building and the river behind most all of the buildings except for the Capitol building site.
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