Saint Charles, city, seat of Saint Charles County, eastern Missouri, on the Missouri River, near its confluence with the Mississippi, a suburb of St. Louis; incorporated as a city 1809. Electronic equipment and missiles are manufactured. Lindenwood College (1827) and the first state capitol (now a museum) are here. The first permanent white settlement on the Missouri River, the community was founded in 1769 and became a Spanish outpost, later named for San Carlos Borromeo; the name was anglicized to St. Charles in 1806. It was (1821-26) the first capital of the state of Missouri. Population 37,379 (1980); 54,555 (1990); 60,321 (2000).
