Life
in these prairie towns was
full of hard work, and with neighbors often miles away things could get
lonely. As O'Fallon's population increased in number
and prosperity, folks could begin to turn their attention to their
social lives.
Mill Pond
In the early 1900's a mill pond
(named such because of its proximity to the old elevator) in the 200
block of South Main Street supplied ice in the winter and water for
hand cranked fire hoses in the city. It also served
as a major source of recreation for the people of
O'Fallon. When the pond froze in winter, folks
enjoyed ice skating with a nearby bonfire provided warmth for
skaters. In the summer, people enjoyed fishing in
the pond. The pond was drained in November of 1944.
Taverns
No movie depicting a town in
the wild, wild West would be complete without a saloon or two and
O'Fallon was no exception. It's been said that
O'Fallon had more churches and taverns than anything else and though
the taverns changed names and owners throughout the years, they were
all located a stone's throw from each other just south of the railroad
tracks on Main Street. 
It must be understood that,
even through the 1960's, the taverns in O'Fallon were family gathering
places. No doubt some troubling behavior occurred
from time to time in the late evening hours. Still,
entire families came to the tavern for food and drink and to visit with
friends. The taverns were also the gathering pace
for O'Fallon's civic leaders and many new ideas and plans for improving
the city were devised and debated at their tables.
Talleur Hall/VFW Hall
Talleur Hall was located near
the Mill Pond and is probably most notable for the fact that it was
funded and built by a woman, Mrs. Caroline
Talleur. Her home was situated on the southwest
corner of Main and West Elm and her family owned a fair amount of
property in O'Fallon. Talleur Hall provided moving
pictures for the enjoyment of the people of this prairie town and in
later years was the scene of dance recitals, wedding receptions and
productions of all kinds. In 1946, the V.F.W.
purchased the building, using it for their meetings and renting it out
for special events of all kinds.
O'Fallon Civic Club and Civic Hall
The O'Fallon Civic Club was
organized by local businessmen, farmers and civic-minded citizens in
October of 1938 for the purpose of promoting and advancing ideas to
make O'Fallon a better and more progressive city in which to
live. In the late 1930's, Assumption Church sold the
land now known at Civic Park to the City of O'Fallon for the sum of one
dollar. Under an agreement reached with the sale,
the church continued to use the park for their annual parish picnic
until the mid 1980's. The park provided play
equipment and picnic grounds and eventually a concrete dance floor was
added. During the summer months of the 1950's, bands
provided music and dances were popular for fund-raising and social
events. The Civic Club also provided a softball park
on the north side of East Elm. Volunteers installed
poles and light fixtures for night games. An Honor
Roll was erected near the ballpark to honor the veterans of World War
II.
In 1958, funds raised from the
Centennial Celebration of 1956 were used to build Civic Hall, where
only a concrete dance floor once was, as part of a city-wide Planned
Progress Initiative.
The Public Library
In the early 1960's a group of
interested citizens in O'Fallon met and organized a committee to
promote interest in the establishment of a library
district. As a result of their efforts, in 1963 the
Missouri State Library agreed to provide a bookmobile demonstration
program to determine the level of local interest. As
quickly as 1964, residents approved the establishment of a county
library district and the tax levy needed to support
it. On August 4, 1964, the O'Fallon Branch Library
opened its doors in a storefront on South Main
Street. The following year the library moved to
larger quarters in the O'Fallon Plaza. Madelyn
Bussinger was O'Fallon's first librarian and served the community in
that job until her retirement in 1985.
Parks
Civic Park is the oldest park
in O'Fallon and is part of the land Nicholas Krekel purchased from his
brother, Arnold, in 1856. He gave the land where the
park is today to Assumption Parish in the early 1900's so the church
could grow and expand. 
When the church sold a
portion of that land back to the city in the late 1930's, O'Fallon's
first city park was created. Civic Park is home to
Civic Hall, Alligator Creek Aquatic Center, the Bandstand and the
O'Fallon Historical Society's Log Cabin Museum.
After Darius Heald's death, the
land surrounding Zumwalt's Fort had a succession of owners and over the
years, the remains of this historic site fell into disrepair and all
but disappeared. Fort Zumwalt Park became part of
the O'Fallon Parks system in 1978 when the State of Missouri sold the
forty-eight acre park to the city for $1.00. The
O'Fallon Community Foundation is making a concerted effort to raise the
funds necessary to rebuild Zumwalt's Fort.
Fort Zumwalt Park also features
Lake Whetsel and is home to the City's annual month-long Celebration of
Lights.
The O'Fallon Historical Society was organized in 1974 and its first officers were installed on July 4th. In 1976 as O'Fallon celebrated the country's Bicentennial, a log cabin previously owned by the Patton family was threatened by economic development. The Historical Society, under the direction of Bill Westhoff and Raleigh Jessup, dismantled the log cabin piece by piece and reconstructed it in Civic Park. The Log Cabin now serves as the museum and meeting place for the O'Fallon Historical Society.
