Mike Kies and Wally Werderich paddling their canoe under the Cable Piano Factory Bridge in St. Charles on their way to set a speed record for the fastest canoe trip down the Fabulous Fox Water Trail, May 2, 2025. Photo by Al Watts.
Key fitters working at the Cable Piano Factory c. 1918. Courtesy of the St. Charles History Museum.
In 1899, Herman D. Cable built a 75,000 square foot factory in downtown St. Charles to make his signature pianos. He had outgrown his factory in Chicago, and “St. Charles was selected as the most advantageous location for the new factory because of the beauty and convenience of the site on the banks of the Fox River and because it provided ideal working and living conditions for employees.”[1] The location on the west bank of the Fox River, south of the Main Street bridge, provided 3.5 acres and direct access to a Northwestern Railway line, allowing for the transportation of raw materials and the shipment of Kingsbury, Wellington, and Schiller pianos. At its height, as many as 500 worked at the factory, many of whom were women.[2]
Around 1902, factory workers asked the city to build a pedestrian bridge across the Fox River so that those who lived on the east side could more easily get to work at the factory on the west bank of the river. At the time, the only bridge in St. Charles crossing the river was Main Street. The city planned to build the foot bridge at Prairie Street, which was at the south end of the factory property, but the workers let it be known that they preferred the bridge to be at the north end. Minutes from the September 14, 1903 St. Charles City Council included, “A petition signed by a large number of the employees of the Piano Factory asking to have the foot bridge located at Indiana Street instead of Prairie St.”[3] In 1904, the city built the foot bridge at Indiana Street, allowing workers who lived on the east side of the river easier access to their jobs.
Cable Piano Factory Bridge in the foreground, factory in the background, and the 1850 Beith House on the far right. Postcard courtesy of the St. Charles History Museum.
The bridge is a Pratt truss design of riveted wrought iron with three 90-foot spans on 4 concrete piers. Each span is made up of 10 panels. Markings on the bridge indicate it was designed by the Phoenix Bridge Company, a prolific builder of wrought iron truss bridges, primarily for railroads, from northwest of Philadelphia. Because of its simple design, the bridge may have been sent to St. Charles and assembled locally.
A man-made island just south of the west end of the bridge is also a remnant of the impressive factory. According to Mike Dixon, a local architect and historian, and former St. Charles Mayor Fred Norris, the island was built by Thure Johansen, the first superintendent of the piano factory, so that employees could have a picnic on the river.[4] Because of this, the island became known as Johansen’s Island. Over the years, the island has also been known as Fox Island and Charlamagne Island.
The Cable Piano Factory expanded many times in the early 20th century from 75,000 square feet to 250,000 square feet. Workers were completing as many as 35 pianos a day there during the peak of its popularity.
The depression hit the piano factory hard, though, causing it to close and be sold to the Howell Company in 1937, a manufacturer of chrome-plated tubular furniture. In World War II, Howell had several manufacturing contracts with the U.S. military, one of which was with the Navy to make stainless steel mess trays.[5] The bridge continued welcoming workers to the factory from the east side.
Howell Manufacturing, c. 1960. Notice the Cable Piano Factory Bridge on the top, far right. Courtesy of the St. Charles History Museum.
The Howell factory closed in 1980 and was repurposed in 1986 as the Piano Factory Outlet Mall, which operated until 1997. Finally, in 2000, the factory was demolished. Condominiums were erected in its place. All that remains of Cable Piano and Howell manufacturing, and their stories of providing jobs for hundreds of men and women in St. Charles, is the Cable Piano Factory bridge and Johansen’s Island. The bridge is also the oldest dedicated foot bridge in Kane County that crosses the Fox River.
A sign on the bridge states that the bridge is historic, but the sign is misleading. The bridge certainly would meet the criteria to be historic; however, it has not been landmarked. This means that any changes to the bridge, including demolition, are not reviewed by the city’s historic preservation commission.
The concrete supports of the bridge have cracks, and the trusses are rusting in places, but the bridge remains structurally safe. Every three years, the city has the bridge inspected by an engineering firm, according to Peter Suhr, Director of Public Works for St. Charles.[6]
In August of 2024, the Government Services Committee of the City of St. Charles approved the hiring of an engineering firm to perform a detailed assessment of the bridge and provide cost estimates to the city for repair, rehabilitation, replacement, and demolition.[7] Their report is expected later this year.
Hundreds of people use the bridge every week as an easy and safe way to cross the river. In addition, the bridge is a symbol of the manufacturing sector that brought hundreds of new families to St. Charles. Undoubtedly, there will be a cost to repairing or restoring the bridge, and hopefully, that cost does not outweigh its historic and practical significance.
Thank you for reading! If this story interested, inspired, or informed you, please consider subscribing to our monthly e-newsletter so more of these stories come right to you!
[1] “The Cable Company: A World Famous Piano Manufacturing Institution,” in St. Charles: The Beauty Spot of the Fox River Valley, pamphlet, St. Charles Chamber of Commerce, 1928, 10, Then and Now (Illinois Digital Archives), http://www.idaillinois.org/digital/collection/stc/id/10790.
[2] “St. Charles History Museum, “Booming Business in the Beauty Spot of the Fox Valley,” (2020): 6, accessed June 19, 2025, https://static1.squarespace.com/static/55161d9ae4b04d5c3199b773/t/5e6d252dd0babc2b37115dcc/1584211251390/2020-StC-Booming-Business-FINAL-web.pdf.
[3] St. Charles City Council Proceedings, City of St. Charles (September 14, 1903): 556.
[4] S. R. Carroll, “Islands on the Fox,” Chicago Tribune, September 6, 1998, https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-1998-09-06-9809050229-story.html.
[5] “St. Charles History Museum, “Booming Business in the Beauty Spot of the Fox Valley,” (2020): 10, accessed June 19, 2025, https://static1.squarespace.com/static/55161d9ae4b04d5c3199b773/t/5e6d252dd0babc2b37115dcc/1584211251390/2020-StC-Booming-Business-FINAL-web.pdf.
[6] Peter Suhr, interviewed by Al Watts by phone, June 28, 2023.
[7] Minutes of the Government Services Committee Meeting, August 26, 2024, City of St. Charles Records, St. Charles, Ill.