St. Charles Boys' Home Monkey House

There are conflicting records on whether the abandoned building housed monkeys, various animals, or boys.

While walking the trails at Hickory Knolls Discovery Center you may come across a small abandoned concrete building in the woods. This building was once part of the St. Charles Boys Home (now the Illinois Youth Center, which still neighbors the property). There are no reliable records as to the original use of the building, but it is most commonly said to have housed monkeys. There are confirmed records that there was a small zoo on the property, but first hand accounts vary on whether this building housed monkeys or other animals, while some say it simply housed youth.