Discover the Missouri Downtown That Looks Like a Hallmark Movie Setting

My knowledge of specific Hallmark movies doesn't run very deep, though I am aware of a couple that have been filmed in my home state of Minnesota, as well as one shot near where I grew up in Iowa. What I do know about them, though, is that they tend to follow a similar story arc, and the places where they're filmed—usually a small town, often Midwestern—practically ooze charm. Since I can't think of many towns that are more charming than St. Charles, Missouri, I believe it would make the perfect backdrop for a Hallmark film.

Let's get this out of the way: I know that St. Charles is a city of around 70,000—in fact, the state's eighth largest—so when I say St. Charles, I'm talking about the historic downtown district, the old town on the Missouri River where the French settled in 1769, before the U.S. was even a twinkle in the founders' quill pens. Its brick-lined streets and historic buildings are so picturesque, they're practically begging to be discovered by the next Hallmark location scout.

The town's historical significance would also help with the plot of the film. Our heroine, who typically has left her hometown only to be drawn back for some reason, could be a historian specializing in the period around the Louisiana Purchase. She returns to her hometown, the place where Lewis and Clark famously set out on their survey of what would become the American West, for research at her big-city university or museum. Growing up here sparked her interest in this period of American history. Still, the lack of opportunities for historians in the area sent her to [enter name of Big City here] on the East Coast.

While surveying the region, she bumps into an old high school classmate who is out... oh, let's say birding, because I think I heard Hallmark is doing birding now. He recognizes her immediately, because (of course) he's always pined for her. Our heroine, on the other hand, doesn't realize at first that this chisel-jawed birder was the nature-loving nerd she had ignored all throughout school. So, they meet up for a drink some night in the historic district.

She teaches him all about the Lewis and Clark expedition; he takes her birding in a local park—cue the montage of falling in love. But a conflict inevitably clouds their relationship. Perhaps she's up for tenure at her fancy university and must return to publish or risk losing it. Our hero, of course, can't leave St. Charles because he's caring for his ailing mother, who raised him on her own after his father perished in a riverboat incident.

Love, however, prevails. She bumps into an old colleague who mentions a position is open right here in St. Charles at Lindenwood University. The department, of course, is honored to have her, and she wins awards and great success in her hometown. Our hero authors a popular local birding guide. In the ending montage, they marry, have children, and the credits roll over a celebratory Christmas morning in a historic St. Charles home with the happy couple, their beautiful children, and a doting grandmother playing with a puppy wearing a red bow.

That last bit is classic Hallmark movie, because they often center around the Christmas holiday. There aren't many towns in Missouri that do Christmas better than St. Charles, so that is definitely another point in its favor as a Hallmark movie setting. Do you agree that St. Charles would make an excellent backdrop for such a film? If you have ideas for other towns in Missouri that would be perfect for a Hallmark film location, we'd love to hear about them on our Nomination page.

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