Democracy on the Front Lines
City Administrator’s Blog
Walter Denton
March 17, 2008
Although our region was settled largely by German immigrants, our city’s name is decidedly Irish. And since this is St. Patrick’s Day, I thought it would be appropriate to give a short explanation of why our city is named O’Fallon.
John O'Fallon, from whom the City of O'Fallon derived its name, was one of St. Louis' most interesting and historical characters. He was a soldier, a business man, a real estate owner, and public-minded citizen.
After the War of 1812 ended, O’Fallon came to St. Louis and became assistant Indian Agent to his Uncle William Clark (of Lewis and Clark Expedition fame). Later John O'Fallon was a contractor, buying and selling supplies to the Army. This proved a profitable business and he accumulated a considerable fortune.
He invested his newly acquired wealth in a number of very lucrative enterprises, among them railroads. He was one of the promoters of the Pacific Railroad (now Missouri Pacific) as well as the North Missouri Railroad (now the Wabash) and the Ohio and Mississippi (now Baltimore and Ohio) and was the first president of each of these railroads.
In 1854, the Ohio and Mississippi Railroad built a depot and water tank on the present site of our city and named the location O'Fallon Station in honor of Col. John O'Fallon. On May 13, 1854, lots were sold at public auction and the top price paid for a lot was $10.00. John O'Fallon never lived in O'Fallon and it is unclear whether he even visited his namesake city. (Incidentally, O’Fallon, Missouri, also was named for John O’Fallon due to a depot and water tank built there in 1860 by the Ohio and Mississippi Railroad.)
His most gainful investment was two large tracts of land now part of northern St. Louis, which he subdivided into building lots. On a part of one of these tracts he built a large country home which he named Athlone for the town in Ireland from which his father had come. This estate was later acquired by the City of St. Louis and is now O'Fallon Park.
John O'Fallon also is remembered for his many charitable and educational gifts. Among these were donations to St. Louis University, Washington University, and particularly a large gift to O'Fallon Polytechnic Institute. This latter institution was the forerunner of the St. Louis high schools and public library.
John O'Fallon died on December 17, 1865, at his home on 1125 Washington Avenue in St. Louis, Missouri.
As a side note, we tried to establish a sister city relationship with a city in Ireland in honor of our Irish name. It turns out that a lot of American cities want to have a sister city in Ireland and we were put on a waiting list. Considering the number of Irish descendents in the U.S. and that Ireland is about three-fourths the size of Arkansas, I guess that is not a surprise.
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