Saint Charles

The city was founded circa 1769 as Les Petites Côtes, or "The Little Hillsides" in French, by Louis Blanchette, a French-Canadian fur trader. The St. Charles area was settled primarily by French-speaking colonists from Canada in its early days. This former French territory west of the Mississippi River was nominally ruled by Spain following France's defeat in the Seven Years' War, while France had also ceded the east of the Mississippi to Great Britain. St. Charles is thus the third-oldest city in what is now the state of Missouri. In the 18th and 19th century, the city's waterfront played a significant role as a river port for westward trade and expansion, including trade with Native American tribes on the upper Missouri River.

In 1804, the Lewis and Clark Expedition considered this settlement the last "civilized" stop before they headed upriver to explore the western territory that the United States acquired from France in the Louisiana Purchase.

The city served as the first Missouri capital from 1821 to 1826.