Historical Society promotes O’Fallon’s present and future while preserving its past

The O’Fallon Historical Society is not just about the old days. Sure, they have a museum, where they preserve a treasure trove of the town’s history, but they are very much a part of boosting the downtown district and the city in its present day.

This new effort to revitalizing downtown O’Fallon with everyone working together has energized their members and helped with new ideas, said Brian Keller, O’Fallon Historical Society president.

They continue their mission of preserving and teaching O’Fallon history, but with a new approach, he said.

“In the last couple years, we have done more to go out into the community. We have a had pop-up museum at the Vine Street Market, a booth at O’Fallon City Fest, sponsored two movies in the park with O’Fallon Parks and Rec, and been involved with other various new Downtown District events,” Keller said.

The group, celebrating their 32nd year, recently unveiled a fun collaboration with Art Gecko Creative Studio — a portable cutout for photo opportunities at community events that honors the city’s past, present and future. When not traveling, it will be available at the museum.

“It is awesome! It captures the spirit of O’Fallon beautifully,” said Andrea Fohne, director of development for the OHS.

Keller said the cutout was designed and painted by Robin Springer and Cory Springer Hollerbach, owners of Art Gecko.

“They said they would be interested in doing photo cutouts for anyone interested after they made a few pig-inspired ones for Bacon Fest this past fall. I sat down with them and we literally came up with the idea in 10-15 minutes. They are so creative and took the idea and ran with it,” Keller said.

“They were so excited to do an O’Fallon project. I wanted to make sure it represented the past, present, and future, and they incorporated it all wonderfully,” Keller added. “Cory is a super-proud O’Fallon Panther band mom so including the OTHS band portion was really special.”

Fohne explained the symbols.

“The man in the chair is John O’Fallon, the namesake of O’Fallon and man responsible for getting us on the map because of the railroad line placement,” she said. “The coal miner is because of the importance the coal industry played in early O’Fallon. Much of O’Fallon is built over old mines and the industry employed so many residents over the years. It was very hard and dangerous work.

“The OTHS Marching Panther is the symbol of our schools, and the pride we have in them, Fohne said. “The background includes a plane for the importance Scott Air Force Base has had to O’Fallon, the water tower is just an iconic O’Fallon image, there are cornfields as connection to the rural areas and farming families.

“Finally, in the middle background is the St. Louis skyline. St. Louis is also a big part of O’Fallon history, as well as helping with employment and entertainment opportunities for our residents over the years. Cory and I talked about wanting it to tie O’Fallon past, present, and future together and truly show we are ALL O’Fallon.”

Cutout’s permanent home at the museum, but it’s portable

Keller said it will be at the museum all the time but was made portable so they can take it to other locations, like the Vine Street Market, O’Fallon City Fest and their movie night through O’Fallon Parks and Rec.

“Basically, if we go out into the community John and friends are coming too. They (Art Gecko) have been a great partnership. We will probably be working with them again very soon,” Keller said.

Proceeds from the sold-out trivia night, “Leaping through the Decades,” will be used to continue these new events, so they will be reinvesting back into the community, Keller said. They are also looking into having a new official logo and updating their retail items.

With the evening’s success, the OHS is looking into having another one, but no details as yet. Keller said Fohne, trivia night chairperson, deserves credit for her work.

“She put this all together and deserves much, much credit for making it happen,” Keller said.

Other volunteers included emcee Kyle Bade; Dave Moehle, who wrote the questions and was a judge; Riley Shultz, who helped set up, was a table runner and sold tickets; Valerie Hancock, who took care of the silent auction; Jeff Bevirt, who handled the sign-in table and was a runner; and Julie Spengler, also at the sign-in table. Keller worked as a judge that night.

Info about upcoming historical society events

OHS will be a prominent part of the upcoming Founders Day, set for Saturday, May 2, in downtown O’Fallon. More details to follow.

They also will be a part of the Bunny Hop downtown on Saturday, March 14.

The next monthly OHS meeting is set for 7 p.m. Tuesday, March 17, at the downtown museum, 101 W. State St., with a Civil War program on Col. Julius Raith, the 43rd Illinois Volunteer Regiment and Battle of Shiloh, Tenn.

Other programs include author Cameron Collins on his book, “Scenes of Historic Wonder: St. Louis” on Tuesday, April 21, and on Becherer’s Tavern (Henry Becherer’s Ridge Prairie Saloon Tavern) and The Dandy Inn on Tuesday, May 19, with a question-and-answer period with Mayor Herb Roach, whose family owned it.

Museum info, the red caboose and volunteers

The museum is open to the public from 1-4 p.m. Wednesdays, Fridays and Saturdays.

OHS also took over the red caboose in the parking lot on W. First Street. It was donated to them after Downtown O’Fallon Inc. dissolved last October. While it never passed through the town during its service days, it is a reminder of O’Fallon’s railroad heritage.

The caboose, built in 1961 for the Illinois Central Railroad, became a Illinois Central Gulf caboose when the companies merged in 1972. With more railroad restructuring, it was used by the Great Western RR and retired from service eventually. It was sold by the Golden Railroad Supply in St. Louis to Main Street O’Fallon (later downtown O’Fallon Inc.) in 1998. It has been extensively renovated, inside and out, and repainted a bright red.

Keller also said they continue to reorganize their exhibit and storage spaces. They have begun the transition to PastPerfect museum software to better manage O’Fallon’s extensive collections. He noted they can always use volunteers and new members. For more information, visit www.ofallonhistory.net

“Preservation of local history is really a group effort, a community effort. O’Fallon has such a rich history. Our mission is to not only preserve it for future generations but to make it accessible and relevant to all in our ever-changing and diverse community,” Keller said. “We really appreciate the wonderful support from the community and the Downtown District.”

This story was originally published March 9, 2020 at 1:10 PM.