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Health & Fitness

Missouri's First State Capitol--Dry Goods Store Found

Charming Federal-style red brick buildings. Tree-lined streets. Shutters and flower boxes. Cobblestone sidewalks. Gas lamps. That is Historic Main Street in Saint Charles, settled along the meandering Missouri River, the home to the Saint Charles Quilting Circle featured in Dandelions on the WindBending Toward the Sun, and Ripples Along the Shore in The Quilted Heart omnibus.

During my return visit to St. Charles, Missouri, this time a research trip, my steps slow and my thoughts racing, I let the history-steeped business district carry me back to 1821. Back to a time when Saint Charles became Missouri’s capitol city, and remained so until 1826.

The First Capitol Building, an esteemed Missouri State Historic Site, stands picturesque at 200 South Main Street. Owned by the Peck Brothers, the upstairs housed the Missouri legislature. In my imagination’s ear, I could hear the legislators’ heated debates on slavery. Just as clearly, I imagined Governor Alexander McNair pacing in his office down the hall and heard the bartering going on below in Peck’s Dry Goods and Hardware store.

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Many historic decisions were made on the roof of the Missouri’s first State Capitol Building, including . . .

·         The Solemn Public Act, upon which Missouri’s admission to the Union rested, was passed.

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·         November 6, 1821, Governor McNair informed the Legislature that Missouri had been admitted to the Federal Union.

·         The State Banking Law of Missouri was voted into effect.

·         The General Assembly fought over the decision to move the Capitol to Jefferson City.

I had found the building for Heinrich’s Dry Goods and Grocery. In a nod to Saint Charles’ historical charm and its strategic role in Missouri’s statehood and place in history during the Civil War, I placed Heinrich’s Dry Goods store in the Capitol Building, more specifically, where Ruluff and Charles Peck resided and ran their Peck Bros. Dry Good & Hardware store.

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