In 1887 the City of St. Charles was a thriving Missouri River port, a leading manufacturer of railroad cars in the state, with a booming population. Their City leaders were progressive, and knew that public health and safety depended on great infrastructure. High up on the hillside overlooking the City was a small girls college named Lindenwood, that had begun by Mary Easton Sibley, wife of George Sibley, in 1827. He was a famous Indian Agent, who had married the daughter of Rufus Easton, Missouri’s second Attorney General and they had just moved to St. Charles. She began teaching family members and young ladies in the town, and it became the Boarding School for Young Ladies. The Sibleys purchased 500 acres of land that would become Lindenwood School for Girls. In 1886, the second wing was added to Sibley Hall which had been built in 1856, and would be the only structure standing when the City of St. Charles built a brick water tower for the progressive community. Today, Lindenwood University is the oldest women’s college west of the Mississippi, while St. Charles is the oldest settlement west of the Mississippi and north of the Missouri River. The University and the City have an established and long relationship. And today, the City’s former water tower, built in 1887, still sits majestically as a recognized landmark for all, on the Lindenwood University Campus.
The Water Tower is the second oldest structure on the campus, as it was purchased from the City in 1971 for $1 to avoid demolition. Today, discussions between Lindenwood and the City of St. Charles indicate that demolition is once again being discussed, this time by the University itself.
Sources:
https://www.lindenwood.edu/about/
https://lindenlink.com/…/the-history-of-lindenwoods…/ Article of October 16, 2019 by reporter Claire Beaudry
ST CHARLES COUNTY HISTORY 