These are a present to the SEMO student working on the Main Street Project who drew the St. Charles Hotel as a subject.
These photos were taken April 13, 1967, when it was all over for the historic hotel used as General Grant’s HQ during the Civil War.
Businesses to the south
I tried to read the painted sign on the building south of the hotel, but I can’t quite make it out. It might be Sherman’s.
The City Directory lists Irvin’s Clothing at 39 North Main. That would be the vertical black sign with the white letters. Below it is a sign advertising Arrow Shirts. That could belong to Irvin’s or it might be for Main Street Clothing, which was at 35 North Main in 1968. Dolly’s Hat Shop was in the directory at 37 North Main.
Personal Finance Loans was at 31 North Main. You can see its sign. The directory lists Tony’s Jewelry and Thrift at the same address. The Sweet Shop was at 33 North Main, but I can’t see a sign for that business.
Sterling Variety Store was 41 North Main
The building that replaced the hotel was Sterling Variety Store, and it’s listed at 41 North Main.
Across the street you can see Lee Optical and Co-Op Drugs. I assume the Budweiser sign marks Cowboy’s Tavern.
St. Charles a month earlier
I took this picture of the St. Charles waiting for the wrecking ball on March 11, 1967. You can see more photos and read some history of the hotel here.
So, how many really historic buildings are there in Downtown?
Fewer and fewer.
Hmm, I bet “Louis Houck” is really …
Downtown merchants pushed Clean-Up Week in front of the St. Charles Hotel in 1957 in this Frony photo.
http://www.semissourian.com/blogs/flynch/entry/41004
The big question is–Is there still a “Louis Houck”?? I thought he was a ghost!!!
It’s the Easter season. He’s back.
Ken, Do you have any photos of the original hotel building? I can’t remember what it looked like.
The bottom aerial photo on this page is as close as I think I come to an overall shot of the St. Charles Hotel.
i got my first pair of glasses from lee optical 12.95 and that included the eye exam. i hated them..black frames! yuck! then later when i had a job i went to a eye doctor on broadway. his office was next to a small lounge named ” the blue note”. any way when that eye doctor brought out his frame selection..it was all black frames. now i see that “look” i popular again
My grandparents James Ruffin “Scrap”Bullock58 and his 2nd wife Florence Elna Preslar aged 18or 19 spent their honeymoon at the St. Charles Hotel in 1916. They were from Kennett in Dunklin Co. Thad Bullock was born in May of 1917 possibly a honeymoon baby. His father passed in 1933 however his bride lived to be 95. I often walked into the lobby as a boy just fascinated at the fact it was in operation and functioning. Most Missouri hotels had bathrooms down the hall from the bedrooms. Not acceptable today.
I don’t think the Arrow Shirts sign was for Main Street as I think it was only clothing for ladies. I bought many things there while I was in college. It was a discount type of clothing store. It was owned by the same people that owned Hecht’s if I remember correctly.
I used to love the St. Charles drug store (which was in the same building as the hotel) for its cosmetic counter. I bought MilkMaid lipstick there which had an absolutely wonderful smell and taste. I have never found anything like it since.
I think the Sweet Shop was in the same building that Seabaugh Shoes used to have. I believe it is also the same place where My Daddy’s Cheesecake first had a store.
Love this group of pictures, Ken.(Notice I left off the “ny”…hard as it was!!!!!). I don’t know how I missed them the first go-round.