Other towns with historic main streets like St. Charles? (St. Louis: houses, theatres)

[SouthCityGal]

I have a friend who is a transplant, and she loves historic Main Street in St. Charles. She is looking for other historic small towns to visit that are within a few hours drive from St. Louis. She says that, so far, nothing has come close to St. Charles. She likes Alton, too, but to a lesser degree. She likes walking trails, specialty shops, antiques, and regional restaurants/bakeries...a nice place to spend a whole day.

If anyone can recommend a town to visit that sort of compares to the atmosphere of historic Main Street in St. Charles, please share. Thanks!

[DinsdalePirahna]

Downtown St. Charles is a neat area, until you realize all the Tsatke shops sell the same tourist crap

[B33nThere]

I've been to Louisiana, MO, once, and it was quaint enough. From the looks of it, though, Hannibal probably has a little more tourist appeal. Both are within a few hours drive of St Louis. I'm interested in going up to Hannibal for the Autumn Historic Folklife Festival, Oct 17-18.

Join us in the Historic District on the third weekend in October for our 33rd annual Folklife Festival. Stroll the streets among artists and artisans demonstrating lifestyles and folk arts of the mid-1800's. Enjoy the sounds of street musicians, storytellers and the smell and taste of food and beverages prepared over wood fires. Bring your appetite, the smell of homemade food and beverages is irresistible! (573) 221-6545

[DinsdalePirahna]

Hannibal was a big disappointment. A filthy little village with no real sense of its own place in literary history. I was expecting so much more.

Even the fake riverboat ride was lame ( I used to be a pilot/mate on a real sternwheeler), and the crew was unfriendly. We would have been fired if we treated our passengers like they did.

[Marksman84]

Originally Posted by DinsdalePirahna

Hannibal was a big disappointment. A filthy little village with no real sense of its own place in literary history. I was expecting so much more.

Originally Posted by DinsdalePirahna

Even the fake riverboat ride was lame ( I used to be a pilot/mate on a real sternwheeler), and the crew was unfriendly. We would have been fired if we treated our passengers like they did.

Wonderful! St. Charles and Hannibal are two more cities that stave off the californication process. Hopefully the list will continue to grow!

[DinsdalePirahna]

You are wrong. These are two towns that have the potential to draw in good crowds and generate revenue. You don't need to put in Starbucks or other franchise eateries, but you do have to make the area appealing to outsiders, not just the locals that seem to be OK with mediocrity.

Just so I won't seem biased against this area, My home town of Hyde Park, NY has the same problem. There are two nearby villages of Red Hook and Rhinbeck that have created a nice environment with sidewalk cafes, clubs, coffee houses and theatres (no franchise eateries!). They are drawing tourists from across the country.

Ironically, the historic town is Hyde Park, Home of FDR, the VanderBilts (and Ricky Horton). But since Hyde PArk does not have a viable tourist infrastructure in place, they are losing revenue to the other villages.

[STLMetro]

Back to the question at hand, if your friend went to Alton, did she go the rest of the way up and check out Grafton? I love this little town and they have done a ton with it in the past 5 years. Also check out Lebanon. It's small, but the main street is quite nice.

[MrZetec]

Other then Downtown St. Charles, I have been to two other places, that reminded me of St. Charles

Columbia, Mo


Sedalia, MO, a few hours drive from St. Louis

[TGS]

I will second the suggestion for Columbia, Missouri.

I can't believe that no one has suggested Hermann, Missouri. It is the epicenter of Missouri wine production and has a very quaint downtown.