This brick building, built in approximately 1850, is one of the oldest commercial buildings in St. Charles.

DeWitt Clinton Pratt came to Illinois in 1845. He moved to St. Charles in 1849 where he established a business. Pratt, a cabinet maker, painter, and daugerreotypist, remained in business in the Fox Valley area for 50 years. Although he moved to Aurora in 1853, he still maintined a gallery in St. Charles. Over the years, Pratt mastered the new technologies of ambrotypes and photographs and incorporated them into his business. According to Ferslew's 1857 Kane County Directory and Gazetteer, Pratt's Excelsior Photographic Galleries offered customers the opportunity to get their likenesses mounted in frames, rings, or lockets. Pratt earned prizes in excellency for his work.

Oliver Morris Butler came to St. Charles in 1844. In 1847 he established a paper mill with Joseph Hunt. The men built two separate mills. One mill stood on the east side of the river and manufactured wrapping paper, and the other, west of the river, manufactured news and book paper. The west side mill burned in 1856, was rebuilt and enlarged, and was later destroyed by fire in 1866. Butler bought the building which had housed Pratt's business in the last quarter of the nineteenth century.

During the 1880s, the building served as the location of Marsden Brothers hardware store. In 1884, tightrope walkers crossed main street from the Butler building to C.H. Haines Mill (where Hotel Baker is located) with torches to advertise their act. Following the closing of the Marsden's store in the early 1920s, the building housed several different restaurants. Among the eateries were the St. Charles Restaurant, the St. Charles Cafe, and the Roma Cafe. In 1946, Klick and Worthley Drug Stores, established by George Worthley and Forest Klick, opened in the storefront. During the 1960s, the drug store moved into the neighboring structure at 5 S 1st Street where the business continued until 1992 when the owner, Charles Brown, decided to close the store. At this time, Burger Drugs took over Klick and Worthley customers.

Since the 1960s the building has housed various businesses ranging from physicians to real estate companies to Diamond Mart.