Where did St. Charles get its name from?

ST. CHARLES, Mo. – Listed as the oldest city on the Missouri River, St. Charles, has a deep history that spans all the way back to the 1600s. The town didn’t always have that name. Over the centuries, it has gone by a number of names.

The territory was first claimed for France by explorer René-Robert Cavelier, Sieur de La Salle in 1682 . It remained with France until 1763, when the territory was transferred to Spain following the Treaty of Paris. Although Spain didn’t take over the region until 1770, the territory remained filled primarily with French settlers and was very welcoming to visitors traveling through.

The city of St. Charles was originally named ‘Les Petites Côtes’ and was founded by a French-Canadian explorer named Louis Blanchette in 1769. According to Greater St. Louis Area Scouting , the name ‘Les Petites Côtes’ is a French term for the ‘Little Hills’, and it came from local Native Americans because of the region’s gentle slopes of the surrounding hills.

Blanchette quickly became a local leader in the settlement until his death in 1793. According to La Grande Louisiane Francaise , Blanchette was named commandant of the settlement on behalf of Spain and was able to transform the territory into a successful trading port for visitors traveling through the settlement.

With Spain in control of the region, the country moved forward to rename the settlement to ‘San Carlos’ in 1791 to honor its king at the time, Charles IV of Spain, with the name of his patron saint, Bishop Carlos Borromeo, the city of St. Charles says .

Through the course of 13 years, the population of ‘San Carlos’ would continue to grow as the rest of the territory changed powers. The United States eventually took control of the territory in part of the Louisiana Territory in 1804 and the city ‘of San Carlos’ was anglicized to St. Charles in the same year.

Today, the city of St. Charles is known to be the oldest city on the Missouri River and is one of the largest cities in the Greater St. Louis region, with over 71,000 people calling the city their home.

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