#242: St. Charles County Heritage Museum at Heritage Park

I made a brief return to St. Charles, or in this case, St. Peters. Close enough. When I did my St. Charles cake hunt, I was on a time schedule, and this was to be my last cake. I had the map and address with me, but no gps or anything. This place was hard to find at the time. I did ask fellow cake-hunters and they were able to provide me with tips.

The factoids about this museum:

• It is housed in the old McCormack Oil Company building, which was a gas station from 1928 to 1990.
• Museum opened in 2001, but moved to its present location in 2010 from East Main Street.
• Holds more than 10,000 photos and more than 15,000 artifacts in their collection
• Like most museums, has exhibits (permanent and temporary) and a gift shop.
• It goes without saying, everything that is to be known at St. Charles is here. The museum has collected stuff from government buildings and past and present residents of St. Charles County.

The cake, which focuses a lot on St. Charles County, including Our Lady at the Rivers:

Left side of the cake

Back side of the cake

Right side of the cake

Top of the cake, which focuses on the water borders of St. Charles County

Official website

1630 Heritage Landing, ST. PETERS, MO, 63303
Cake artist: Gina Harmon

#216: Our Lady of the Rivers

This was my second attempt to get the cake. During the first week of July, I took a drive along the Missouri river road on Hwy. 94 from West Alton to Portage des Sioux, ready to get the cake and see the location. As I got there, I didn't see the cake so I kept looking...and looking. I accessed the stl250 site through my phone and I saw that they listed this cake location as 'Temporarily Unavailable due to high water'. Of course, I was bummed. It was my understanding that it was a vulnerable place because it is prone to flood waters and its closeness to the Mississippi River. But I did get to take some shots of the statue and the walkway.

I returned later that month, when the cake was placed back. (I don't know where it was during its hiatus, possibly in a nearby government building).

The cake, which has quite a pet theme to it, from what I understand artist Lindsay Harmon likes:  (This was also one of two cakes that I recall seeing 'tied down' to something. The other one was later Manchester City Hall)

Back side of the cake

Right side of the cake

Left side of the cake

Located at the end of LeSeurre Street, PORTAGE DES SIOUX, MO, 63373
Cake artist: Lindsay Harmon

#213: Centennial Greenway/KATY Trail

This is where two important trails in Missouri will come together. It is currently being planned that the Centennial Greenway will connect bikers/joggers/runners to the Katy Trail from most parts of St. Louis, including downtown!

Facts about the Centennial Greenway:

• Named for the 100th anniversary of the St. Louis World's Fair and the founding of University City.
• The trail will connect from Forest Park to Creve Coeur Memorial Park. 
• It is destined to be a 20-mile trail from St. Charles to St. Louis.
• Some parts of the trail have been completed, including the part that passes through Ruth Porter Park, and from this point (at the meeting of Katy Trail) to the St. Charles Heritage Museum.

The Katy Trail:

• Missouri's longest trail
• The country's longest 'rails-to-trails' path
• Edward 'Ted' Jones donated $2 million to the construction of this trail.
• Western terminus is located in Clinton, MO, and the eastern terminus is at the Edward 'Ted' and Pat Jones State Park. 
• Trails length is 237.7 miles, passing through such Missouri River towns and cities like Jefferson City, Hermann, Boonville, Columbia, and of course St. Charles.

The cake:

Right side of the cake

Top of the cake. Unfortunately, Mr. Swain's cake was subject to vandalism

***2015 Update***

The cake was purchased by the Cakelovers and its artist Mark Swain re-painted it. It is now the 'Saturday Morning Cartoon Cake', featuring several cartoon characters from the 1950's-on. On April 17, 2015, the cake was unveiled at R Space Gallery (in Soulard) and will be on display there until July 2015.

Centennial Greenway Official website

2886 Arena Parkway, ST. CHARLES, MO, 63303
Cake artist: Mark Swain

#212: Ameristar Casino St. Charles

There are a few casinos in the St. Louis area. On the Illinois side, you have the Argosy in Alton (formerly called the Alton Belle) and the Casino Queen in East St. Louis. Missouri has the Lumiere Place, River City, Hollywood (formerly Harrah's) and Ameristar. So why Ameristar Casino of all these places? And why is there a cake at a casino?

That was the question on my mind. Once you look at the cake, you'll get an idea. Ameristar just happens to be located very close to where America's first Interstate highway opened. After the Federal Aid-Highway Act passed in 1956, the state of Missouri was awarded contracts on paving interstate highways. One of them was the then-present road of Route 66 (now Interstate 44 which goes from Joplin, Springfield, Rolla to St. Louis). On August 13, 1956, the site of I-70 (near Ameristar) was awarded a contract, and at the same time, construction started for it. The rest, they say, is history. Interstates today are the best way to commute and travel on road trips. Say if you are traveling west of St. Louis via I-70, you can go to Columbia (MO), Kansas City, Topeka, or Denver. It ends out in the middle of the desert at Interstate 15 in Utah. If you're going East, I-70 can take you to Indianapolis, Columbus, and as far as Baltimore.

Little is known that there is some controversy on where the first Interstate started. Missouri, along with Pennsylvania and Kansas are states that claim to have it. Pennsylvania had the first traditional four-lane highway (the Pennsylvania Turnpike), which was the first of its kind. It was paved in 1940. Kansas, on the other hand, jumped the gun before the bill even passed (earlier in 1956), but was awarded a contract after Missouri.

The cake, which greatly focuses on the Interstate highway:

It's always nice to hear from the guy in the big chair about his cake pride

Back side of the cake

Right side of the cake

Mr. Clean? Nope, its Dwight Eisenhower who signed the Interstate act

Note: There was a rumor that this cake was originally supposed to go at the old Noah's Ark place in St. Charles.


1 Ameristar Boulevard, ST. CHARLES, MO, 63301
Cake artist: Amanda Leigh Blalock

#211: Shrine of St. Rose Philippine Duchesne

And the last part of downtown St. Charles which has a cake location is right on the Lewis & Clark Trail, or Highway 94. This one is at the Shrine of St. Rose Philippine Duchesne.

Left side of the cake

Right side of the cake

St. Rose Philippine Duchesne Wikipedia link

619 North Second St., ST. CHARLES, MO, 63301
Cake artist: Megan Rieke

#210: St. Charles County Courthouse

Just by looking at the picture, yeah it was bright out that day! Still, the cake has some very cool colors and all.

• Started to be built in 1900, cornerstone laid out the following year, but in 1903 was put on hold because of flooding from the Missouri River.
• The land was called 'Clerks Hill' before the courthouse was built, as there were two government clerks offices atop the hill
• This was not the first location of the courthouse. The first was built at the corner of Madison and Main Streets in St. Charles
• In 1876, the original courthouse was damaged by a tornado, prompting local government leaders to move to a new location.
• Several historical markers are found outside the building. Most notably are some plaques surrounding the statue of St. Carlos Borromeo, which detail how St. Charles and the county developed.

Statue of Saint Carlos (or Charles) Borromeo, the city's namesake

Two artists, Zack Farmer and Erica Kaiser, decorated this colorful cake:

Back side of the cake

Right side of the cake

Left side of the cake

Official website for St. Charles County Government

100 N. 3rd St., ST. CHARLES, MO, 63301
Cake artists: Zack Farmer and Erica Kaiser

#209: First Missouri State Capitol State Historic Site

It is not well-known to some of the St. Louis-area people that St. Charles was the first capital of Missouri. Only from 1821 to 1826, but not many people know that it was actually a 'temporary capital'. Missouri lawmakers at the time wanted to make an area in the central part of the state, off the Missouri River, and name it after Thomas Jefferson. Today, the area is known as Jefferson City, which of course, is the capital of Missouri.

St. Charles has so much rich history to it. Some obscure information about the city is found all over, and it has been well-restored. Many cakes have been placed in St. Charles, as well as all over the county. You'll see them in my other posts. A very little known fact: Jean Baptiste Point du Sable lived here, and died here in 1818. Du Sable was the first resident of the city of Chicago, Illinois. Who knew he would end his life in Cardinal Nation?

St. Charles County:
St. Charles is the county seat of St. Charles County and is a big city. However, it is not the largest city as it has been surpassed by O'Fallon. Other cities include Lake Saint Louis, Wentzville and St. Peters. St. Charles County is bordered by 7 different counties, in both Illinois and Missouri. Most of the county's border is water, by the Missouri and Mississippi Rivers. According to Wikipedia, it is the wealthiest and fastest-growing county in Missouri. Both the county and city are named for Italian cardinal Saint Charles Borromeo.

The building is to represent what life was like in the 1800s, as well as its architecture. First floor was used as a store, while the second floor was for the government.

The cake, as designed by Lindsay Harmon: (Sorry, I wasn't able to get the back of it, but I know that it talks about the first state capitol)

Left side of the cake

Right side of the cake

Top of the cake

Wikipedia link
Official website

200 S. Main St., ST. CHARLES, MO, 63301
Cake artist: Lindsay Harmon

#208: Lewis and Clark Boat House and Nature Center

Moving on into the old-town, downtown (whatever you want to call it....) part of St. Charles. First State Capitol. Lewis & Clark. Better not get ahead of myself here...

The Boat House and Nature Center is just right off the Missouri River at Bishop's Landing. Situated alongside the long Frontier Park in St. Charles, this museum houses full-size replicas of the boats used by Meriwether Lewis and William Clark. Several items related to their expedition are in here as well. In addition, plenty of factual information about the Missouri River too! There is something for everybody of all ages. Class field trips are often taken here.

Here's another cake that's got a map. If you've read my previous posts or know me, you know I'm obsessed with maps and geography! This one details Lewis & Clark's travels and what their current incarnations are.

Top of the cake

Right side of the cake

Left side of the cake

Official website

1050 S. Riverside Drive, ST. CHARLES, MO, 63301
Cake artist: Ashli England  (she also decorated the Heritage House cake)