Commons Neighborhood Historic District - St. Charles, MO - U.S. National Register of Historic Places on Waymarking.com

County of district: St. Charles County
Location of district: Bounded by Kingshighway, N 5th St., & Clark St., St. Charles
District Map

"The Commons Neighborhood Historic District is located in St. Charles, Missouri, which was founded in 1769 and today boasts more than 68,000 residents. Situated on the west bank of the Missouri River near its confluence with the Mississippi River, the city is approximately 20 miles northwest of downtown St. Louis (see Figure 13, page 112). The district is located about one-third of a mile west of the Missouri River and about 4½-blocks northwest of the St. Charles Historic District (NR 9/22/70, with boundary increases 6/4/87, 5/1/91 and 10/10/96), which is the city’s historic downtown commercial area concentrated on Main Street. The commercial and residential Frenchtown Historic District (NR 3/14/91) is adjacent to the district’s eastern boundary and the Midtown Neighborhood Historic District (NR 10/29/2014) is adjacent to its southern boundary (see Figure 14, page 113).

"Primarily a blue-collar residential neighborhood, the 48.0-acre district contains 243 contributing buildings (167 primary buildings, 76 outbuildings), 83 noncontributing buildings (40 primary buildings and 43 outbuildings) and 8 noncontributing structures. Eighty-one percent (81%) of the primary buildings are contributing and 19% are noncontributing. Of the total number of noncontributing buildings, 54 percent are modern or altered garages and sheds that are located at the rear of the properties where they are minimally visible from the street. These resources are located within portions of 18 blocks that are roughly bounded by Clark Street on the south, Fifth Street on the east, Randolph Street on the north and Kingshighway, Seventh and Sixth Streets and Benton Avenue on the west. Although the Commons Neighborhood extends west to Kingshighway, all but two of the buildings facing this street were excluded from the district’s boundaries because the majority has undergone extensive alterations. Other concentrations of noncontributing buildings immediately east of Kingshighway were also excluded from the boundaries.

"Although the district is predominantly residential, two churches and a few commercial buildings are also located within its boundaries. The buildings in the district represent the architectural trends that were popular nationally from the mid-nineteenth century through the mid-twentieth century. Residences range from small vernacular cottages to large, high style houses. Contributing buildings date from circa 1850- 1963, which is the period of significance for the district, and include examples of the Federal, Second Empire, Queen Anne and Queen Anne Free Classic, Folk Victorian, Colonial Revival, Craftsman, and Minimal Traditional styles; however, many residential buildings are vernacular designs that either display no architectural influences or minimal detailing typical of architectural styles that were popular during the period they were built. The following folk forms or building types are common in the district: Gable Front, Gable-Front-and-Wing, Pyramidal (including American Foursquare), Bungaloid and Ranch.
  Although most streets within the district contain a mixture, a few areas have concentrations of a particular architectural style or form, such as the Second Empire style buildings in the 500 and 600 blocks of North Fifth Street and the five Federal style residences located at 546 through 560-62 Morgan Street." ~ NRHP Nomination Form