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Centennial Souvenir Program, 1954
Present Post Office. Inset interior view of post office taken in 1904, Postmaster W. A. Koenigstein and Clerk Elizabeth Fischer. Located on West State Street in National Bank Building. The first post office was established in 1855 at O'Fallon with Anderson Umbarger as postmaster. Since that time O'Fallon has had many postmasters, changes being made in accordance with political shifting of powers between the "ins" and the "outs". In the early days, the location of the post office did not remain static very long for it was moved from time to time. The first post office was located in the home of Anderson Umbarger; in the 1870s in the general store at the corner of State and Lincoln (now present bus station); in [the] 1880s in the Allen Building on West First Street; in the early 1900s several locations on West State Street; then the Bechtold building (present library) until April 1938 when the present post office building was completed. House to house delivery of mail was inaugurated in O'Fallon on August 1, 1925. Julius Schalter, Jr. was appointed carrier for the north side and Wilbur Scott carrier on the south side of the city. Mr. Schalter still serves as carrier on the north side and Mr. Scott is employed as a clerk in the post office. Two deliveries were made daily. John Lawrence was postmaster at that time. Two rural carriers service the rural community from the O'Fallon Post Office. Charles Schildknecht, carrier on Route No. 1, has served as a carrier since November 1920. Chester Mayberry, carrier on Route No. 2, has served as such since November 1923. The present post office, which cost $70,000, was formally dedicated on Saturday, April 9, 1938. Due to the cold weather the dedication ceremonies were carried out in the State Theater which had been donated by the management. About 450 persons, including 30 postmasters from other cities, were in attendance. Adolph Ohlendorf, Jr., president of the Civic Club, sponsors of the dedication, served as chairman while Postmaster John L. Anheuser officiated as master of ceremonies. Postmaster Anheuser introduced those on the speakers' platform as follows: Frank J. Buckley, Deputy Fourth Assistant Postmaster-General of Washington, D. C.; E. P. Kline, president of the Association of Postmasters, 22nd District; Melvin Price, secretary to Congressman Edwin M. Schaefer; Mayor Ridge Smith of O'Fallon; Sheriff H. E. Sickmann; and E. H. Runkwitz, County Superintendent of Schools. After the exercises in the theater, the crowd moved to the post office where the H. Edward Fischer Post No. 137, American Legion, officiated in the flag raising ceremony. John Sapp and E. C. Schobert led their comrades in a salute as the colors reached the top of the staff while the WPA band played "Stars and Stripes Forever." After this the building was opened for inspection. About 1200 persons visited the building during the inspection period. Efforts to secure the post office for O'Fallon were begun in May 1935 and with the assistance of Congressman Edwin M. Schaefer the project became a reality in less than three years. In June 1936, the proposal was approved by Congress and $70,000 appropriated for the project. The site for the post office was purchased in October 1936 from Oliver C. Joseph for $6,675.00. On June 24, 1937 the general contract to build the building was awarded to the Langlois Construction Company of Berwyn, Illinois on their bid of $46,160.00. The sealing of the cornerstone was accomplished on January 17, 1938, at which time a number of records, [a] brief history of O'Fallon, and several copies of The Progress were placed in a copper compartment. The building has a frontage of 60 feet on Lincoln Avenue and extends 58 feet on East Third Street. In addition there is a canopied loading platform 22 feet long and six feet in width. The structure is of buff-colored brick and stone trim. In the lobby of the post office may be found an excellent mural (oil on canvas) drawn by Merlin F. Pollack of Chicago, Illinois. The mural shows John Mason Peck, who in 1827 became the first postmaster of the Rock Springs Post Office (located about two miles east of O'Fallon on Route No. 50), distributing mail to residents of the area. The mural was executed under the program of the Section of Fine Arts, Federal Works Agency, Public Buildings Administration, which decorated federal buildings with murals and sculpture. The present personnel of the post office is as follows: Postmaster, Earl Thompson (a postal employee since October 1926); City Carriers: Julius Schalter, Jr., Wilmer Anheuser, and Substitutes Ralph Carson, Kenneth Schwarz, and Benjamin Hamm; Rural Carriers: Charles Schildknecht, and Chester Mayberry; Clerks: Dorothy McArdle, Wilbur Scott, Helen Perry, Evelyn Brasher, and Substitute Margaret Vest; Janitor, Robert Berens. ---19-20---
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