State Historic Site Week: Day 3

While Missouri’s capitol building today sits in Jefferson City, the state’s first capitol was the second floor of a residence and general store in St. Charles. The territory had initially been governed out of St. Louis. After being granted statehood, however, Missouri chose a city in the middle of the state to be the permanent capital. Until the construction of this capitol building was complete, the state legislature needed a temporary place to meet. The city of St. Charles offered free accommodations, so the legislature chose this site along the Missouri River. The upper floor of these two conjoined brick buildings served as the state of Missouri’s first capitol until 1826.

Visitors today are able to tour the site of Missouri’s first capitol, getting a sense of how simple and practical the center of government was in the early 1800s. The capitol is divided into two main rooms. The first was a large room with doors that could divide the room into two. One half of the room was the location of the Missouri house of representatives, with long benches serving as the seats for the elected officials and a table in the front for the speaker. The other half of the room was for the senate. It featured tables, with two senators sharing a table, with another table at the front of the room for the leader. The furniture was plain and sat on top of wood floors that one could peek through to see the room below (which made eavesdropping on the legislature quite easy!). The other main room was the office of the governor. While it did contain a fireplace, a desk, a table, and some chairs, even the governor’s office was sparsely and plainly furnished. Between the two main rooms, a third small room functioned as a meeting place for committees.

Visitors are able to see where the first state governed functioned and learn a bit about their process and the issues they dealt with. They are also able to look at the first floor of the buildings that held the state government. While not all of the first floor is available for the public to tour, one half of the structure has been restored to what it would have looked like in the 1820s. This area was owned by the Peck brothers, who operated a general store out of one half of the building. In the other half, one of the brothers lived with his family. Visitors, then, are able to get a sense of what living arrangements and a business would have looked like in the 1820s. The general store was interesting since the store would have helped supply those who would be heading up the Missouri River and into the wilderness further west; the living quarters were also fascinating to see, with the number and types of furnishings and implements in such a small space (the rotating bread toaster attached to the floor in front of the fireplace was especially fun).

Overall, the First Missouri Capitol State Historic Site offered an interesting and informative look at both early 19th century life and the foundation of Missouri’s government.