As the wind breaks on the Fox River, the sun makes its trek over the Hotel Baker on a brisk autumn morning.

Cattle trucks that once made their way east along Route 64 to Chicago no longer dot the busy road. They have been replaced by the vehicles of morning commuters.

Overlooking the river from the west, Hotel Baker sits at the epicenter of the city’s ever-changing downtown.

The hotel is celebrating its 80th anniversary this year, marking eight decades since Col. Edward Baker founded the hotel that gave a face to a sleepy farming community of 8,000. That community has become a bustling western suburb of more than 30,000.

“It was a first-class hotel that you could only find in big cities,” said Fred Norris, former St. Charles mayor and longtime resident. “Yet here it was in this rural community, tucked on the banks of the Fox River.”

Hotel Baker has kept much of the charm that once wowed politicians and celebrities. It was visited by John Philip Sousa, George Burns, Adlai Stevenson and President John F. Kennedy.

The writing room in the second-floor lobby, once a popular place flush with businessmen and guests, now is more of a historical tribute and exhibition area, with much of the original artwork used to decorate the walls.  The mail-drop system, where guests send letters down a chute, remains intact. The Rainbow Room, with its colorfully lit dance floor where Louis Armstrong once performed, still is a popular place for weddings. Many of the guest rooms still contain vintage furniture from the 1920s and ’30s.

The hotel also has upgraded for the future. In perhaps the largest change, the Waterfront Restaurant has been converted to a reception and dining room. Owner Joe Salas opened a restaurant, the ROX City Grill, in the former Charlemagne Lounge. Salas also expanded the outdoor patio by 15 feet, making it possible for the hotel to host two weddings at the same time.

Hotel Baker continues to be among the largest tourist draws for St. Charles. The hotel also contributes to the city’s revenue through the hotel-motel tax, and Salas is involved with bringing business to First Street. His wife, Rowena,  recently opened the Bridges Fine Art Gallery on Route 31.

“Coming from Chicago, (Hotel Baker) was a destination point for a lot of people,” said Julie Bunke, registrar at the St. Charles Heritage Center. “It appealed because it was out of the city and (was in) what was at the time the country.”

The hotel remains an integral part of the First Street Development project, aimed at redeveloping the city’s downtown and bringing an influx of new business.

In April, the American Institute of Architects named the hotel one of the top 150 places to see in Illinois.

“I think (Hotel Baker) is the cornerstone of St. Charles,” said Lori Hewitt, president of the St. Charles Chamber of Commerce. “I think it’s phenomenal; it’s gone through some changes and it’s still here after 80 years.
“With all the improvements, I think it’s only going to get better.”

The hotel once ran on an electrical system that used turbines to harness the power of the Fox River.

The hotel was built to withstand the elements and time. Constructed mostly of limestone and brick, the structure is virtually fireproof.

kbeese 11/12/08 added Tough times hit the hotel in the late ’90s and the early part of the 21st century. In 2002, a last-ditch effort was made by hotel staffers to keep the doors open, but the hotel was padlocked when a financing deal fell through.

People who had deposits for weddings and other functions at the hotel said they never got their money back.

 The 1928 edifice in downtown St. Charles was sold at sheriff’s auction to the bank that held the mortgage.kbeese 11/12/08 end new

Lo DeHarp, a St. Charles resident for 75 years and part-time driver for the hotel, said he always enjoyed visiting the gift shop and trophy room. He said he also would get haircuts at the old barbershop, which has been replaced by a reception and dining room.

 “It was always the landmark,” DeHarp said. “People would come out of the city to see it.”