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O'Fallon Station and Water Tank When the Ohio & Mississippi Railroad was laid through our area, one of the first orders of business was to build a station and a water tank to fill the thirsty boilers of locomotives passing through. The first 0. & M. train station or depot, O’Fallon Station, was built in 1854 and stood between present day Lincoln Ave. and Vine St., south of State St. and north of the railroad tracks. A water tank, constructed of wood, stood at the northeast corner of Lincoln Ave. and the railroad. It was said that when a train jumped the tracks in about 1865 and ran into the first tank, there was enough kindling to run the village for some time. It was soon rebuilt. Just to the north of the depot but still south of State St. stood Andrew Molles’ wagon shop. A Swiss immigrant and Union Civil War veteran, Molles came to O’Fallon from Belleville in about 1867. On a Spring morning in the late 1880’s, a 5 a.m. freight train spewed sparks which landed on the roof of Molles’ wagon shop causing a fire. Stored paint and varnish helped fuel the fire which developed into a large blaze and spread to the adjacent train depot. Sparks were reported to have blown as far as Mace’s Grove north of O’Fallon. Both buildings were destroyed.
The loss of the wagon shop was estimated at $2000 although the building was only insured for $600. Molles rebuilt his business within a year and worked until his retirement in 1920. The depot was rebuilt on the south side of the railroad tracks directly opposite the original one. There it stood until it was razed in August 1998 and replaced with a replica built just to the south.
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