Pottawatomie Neighborhood Historic Resources Survey
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The Pottawatomie Neighborhood Historic Resources Survey is part of an initiative led by the City of St. Charles’ Historic Preservation Commission to document the existing historic residences at one of St. Charles’ earliest sites of settlement. McGuire Igleski conducted a historic resources survey of the eighty properties in the survey area and prepared an accompanying survey report. The report documents the area’s architectural heritage as evidenced by the existing architectural styles/forms, building typologies, and construction methods. The report also includes a narrative on the historical and cultural significance of those who have shaped and developed the neighborhood, from its first Indigenous settlement to the area’s earliest white pioneers to the residents and developers who transitioned the rural landscape to an urban neighborhood through the present day. The survey report and individual resource documentation help inform future preservation efforts within the Pottawatomie neighborhood.
St. Charles, Illinois
City of St. Charles
31 acres, 80 buildings
The Pottawatomie Neighborhood resides on the ancestral lands of the Illiniwek (Illini or Illinois Confederation), who inhabited these lands for thousands of years as the rich forests, prairies, and rivers provided the hunting and fishing grounds for the First Nations. The survey area is bounded by Iroquois Avenue, N. Fifth Avenue, Park Avenue, and Pottawatomie Park/N. Second Avenue, encompassing portions of areas historically platted as Ward’s Addition, Grand View Addition, Riverview Highlands Addition, Clark & Meyers Addition, and Section 27 of St. Charles Township. It represents a diverse range of cultures and traditions, and the survey seeks to document this heritage through the built environment.
Nearly two centuries of residential development, beginning in St. Charles’ early settlement period (1834-1864) through the mid-twentieth century is depicted by a wealth of historic resources in the survey area. Specifically, well represented are the architectural styles and residential building typologies popular during the Progressive/Post-Victorian Era (1900-1917), Interwar Years (1918-1939), and Mid-Twentieth Century (1940-1975), representing the neighborhood’s key periods of growth.