In 2019, O’Fallon celebrated Money magazine’s recognition – again – of our City as one of the nation’s “100 Best Places to Live.” How we got there is a tale of entrepreneurship and of business leaders who wore many hats.
In 1912, the City incorporated with about 600 residents. O’Fallon’s first mayor, Fred Jacoby, built the first drug store and started the first telephone service, which he installed himself, including a switchboard in his store. Mayor Jacoby also started the town’s first band and invented a grain reaper.
By 1956, O’Fallon’s population had grown to 1,357. The City’s three-day Centennial celebration, which included a beard-growing contest, drew spectators from many neighboring towns. About this time, O’Fallon’s first subdivisions were started. A sign was posted along the highway, “O’Fallon, a Good Place to Live.” Many residents commuted to manufacturing jobs in St. Louis.
In 2015, the O’Fallon Community Foundation and the City of O’Fallon opened the long-awaited reconstructed Jacob Zumwalt’s settler fort, which sheltered families from Native American attacks during the War of 1812.
Today, O’Fallon’s borders have expanded to about 30 square miles and our population is nearly 89,000. The same railroad line that started our City is still in operation.
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