O'FALLON, MISSOURI

'O'Fallon' is a rapidly gowing suburban-city along Interstate 70 between Lake St. Louis and St. Peters in Saint Charles County, Missouri. It is part of the St. Louis Metropolitan Statistical Area. As of 2006 the population was 72,477^[1]. O'Fallon is also home of the River City Rascals minor league baseball team.

Contents

History

Demographics

Economy

Law and government

Education

Distinctions

References

External links

History

After the War of 1812, there was a westward flow of migration through the present-day St. Charles County on the Booneslick Trail, which would later have parts of the trail become modern-day Interstate 70. During the 1830s, many German settlers came to the O'Fallon area inspired by Gottfried Duden's ''Republic of the Western States of North America''. The report was based on his account of living in St. Charles. O'Fallon's history as a city starts in the 1850s. Arnold Krekel was a German immigrant who held a number of offices including U.S. District Court Judge and Missouri state legislator, he founded a German language newspaper, and he invested in the North Missouri Railroad along with many other things. Krekel never lived in O'Fallon, however, his younger brother, Nicholas, built the first home which still stands. In 1854, Judge Krekel granted the North Missouri Railroad permission to build a depot on his property along with a right-of-way on his "Krekel Addition". In 1856, Judge Krekel named the depot O'Fallon Station after his friend John O'Fallon, the railroad's president and a noted philanthropist. In 1860, the "Krekel Addition" was renamed O'Fallon, and in 1912, it was incorporated. For many years, O'Fallon was a quiet, small community in central St. Charles County, until the early 1980s, when the population boom began. The population for O'Fallon rose to over 17,000 by 1990, and is over 70,000 residents as of 2006. Questionable political moves and a large increase in affordable housing led to increased traffic and crime rates. After a proposal to redevelop older parts of the city, residents complained of an eminent domain conflict. In 2006 ''Money Magazine'' named O'Fallon as one of its "Best 100 Places to Live." The River City Rascals of the independent Frontier League play at T.R. Hughes Ballpark in O'Fallon, which was built in 1999, and is located on Tom Ginnever Boulevard and T.R. Hughes Boulevard, near the downtown sector.

Demographics

As of the census of 2000, there are 46,169 people in the city, organized into 15,389 households and 12,603 families. The population density is 793.3/km² (2,054.9/mi²). There are 15,920 housing units at an average density of 273.6/km² (708.6/mi²). The racial makeup of the city is 95.32% caucasian, 2.24% African American, 0.74% Asian, 0.23% Native American, 00.03% Pacific Islander, 0.43% from other races, and 1.02% from two or more races. 1.45% of the population are Hispanic or Latino of any race.
There are 15,389 households out of which 50.6% have children under the age of 18 living with them, 69.8% are married couples living together, 8.6% have a female householder with no husband present, and 18.1% are non-families. 14.1% of all households are made up of individuals and 3.4% have someone living alone who is 65 years of age or older. The average household size is 2.98 and the average family size is 3.30.
In the city the population is spread out with 33.4% under the age of 18, 6.4% from 18 to 24, 38.8% from 25 to 44, 15.3% from 45 to 64, and 6.2% who are 65 years of age or older. The median age is 31 years. For every 100 females there are 97.3 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there are 95.1 males.
The median income for a household in the city is $60,179, and the median income for a family is $64,627. Males have a median income of $45,295 versus $29,129 for females. The per capita income for the city is $21,774. 3.3% of the population and 2.6% of families are below the poverty line. Out of the total population, 3.3% of those under the age of 18 and 6.7% of those 65 and older are living below the poverty line.

Economy

O'Fallon is home to MasterCard’s headquarters for Global Technology and Operations center, where MasterCard’s credit-card transactions from around the world are settled. Attracting that center cost the city, county, and state:

★ $27.4 million in highway improvements;

★ $10 million in tax credits funded through the state and an additional $1.2 million in business facility tax credits;

★ $3 million in state job training programs for its employees;

★ Refinanced loans and community development grants worth more than $1.6 million; and

★ A $785,000 rate discount on electricity service from Ameren.
O'Fallon was the former headquarters of Venture Stores.
O'Fallon is also home to CitiMortgage Headquarters, which employs over 4,700 people.

Law and government

Education

O'Fallon is home to satellite campuses of Webster University and Lindenwood University. The private Catholic school St. Dominic is located in O'Fallon, as is Christian High School, a non-denominational Christian secondary school. For public schools, O'Fallon is served mostly by the Fort Zumwalt School District, and the westernmost part is served by the Wentzville R-IV School District. The south to southeastern part of the city is served by the Francis Howell R-III School District.
O’Fallon-area student test scores in reading and math are almost 6% and 5% higher, respectively, than median test scores for the Top 10 communities, and 19-21% above Missouri averages, as well.

Distinctions

In 2006, Money magazine recognized O’Fallon as one of the nation’s 100 Best Places to Live. Of the 100 cities selected, Money winnowed out a “Top 10” list. In O’Fallon, jobs grew a whopping 25.32% from 2000-2005, versus an average of 10.97% for the Top 10 communities. In fact, of the 100 “Best Places” cities, O’Fallon ranked second in the nation for job growth. In O’Fallon, the risk of becoming a crime victim was one-third less than the average risk in Top 10 communities.
Fire Protection is provided by the O'Fallon Fire Protection District which in 2007 became the first Internationally Accredited Fire Agency in the State of Missouri. The award was made by the Center for Public Safety Excellence's Commission on Fire Accreditation International (CFAI). The CFAI has approved accreditation status for only 120 fire agencies world wide.
New O’Fallon homes cost an average of $219,066, versus an average of $259,566 for a new home in the Top 10 communities. More information can be found on the Money CNN Web site, money.cnn.com/magazines, or in the August 2006 issue of Money.

References

1. http://factfinder.census.gov/servlet/SAFFPopulation?_event=ChangeGeoContext&geo_id=16000US2954074&_geoContext=&_street=&_county=O%27fallon&_cityTown=O%27fallon&_state=&_zip=&_lang=en&_sse=on&ActiveGeoDiv=&_useEV=&pctxt=fph&pgsl=010&_submenuId=population_0&ds_name=null&_ci_nbr=null&qr_name=null®=null%3Anull&_keyword=&_industry=

External links

★ City of O'Fallon

★ O'Fallon Fire Protection District

★ O'Fallon Sesquicentennial

★ MasterCard, WingHaven Fuel Growth Spurt for O'Fallon, from the website of the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis