December 17 1865 The namesake of OFallon, Missouri and Illinois died. Colonel John OFallon was an Indian fighter, banker, legislator and philanthropist. He became head of the Northern Missouri Railroad, later the Wabash. Nikolas Krekel named the railroad depot after OFallon when he laid out the town in St. Charles County. 1891 The American Association folded. The St. Louis Browns would join the National League for the 1892 season. Colorful owner Chris von Der Ahe sold the club to the Robison Brothers for $33,000 dollars in 1898. In 1899, the Robisons moved the team from Sportsman’s Park to Robison Field, located where Beaumont High School is today. They adopted the name “Cardinals” in 1900. In 1902, the American League moved the Milwaukee franchise here and they became the Browns. 1928 A 1.67 mile stretch of road in Illinois between the McKinley Bridge and the Municipal Bridge was completed. U.S. 66 traffic was shifted from the McKinley Bridge to the Municipal Bridge. (Now the MacArthur) The McKinley carried the Optional 66 designation until 1937. 1949 Browns president Bill Dewitt announced the Brownies would try a new approach next spring. The club had hired a New York psychiatrist to work with the team. He would work with the players to try to teach them to relax and overcome tension. The Brownies had drawn just 207,000 fans in 1949 and were selling off players to raise cash. 1958 James Bullock was found shot to death in front of the Art Museum. His widow had taken out a $64,000 insurance policy on him and was still seeing her ex-husband, Doctor Glennon Engleman. Circuit Attorney Thomas Eagleton was criticized for going after the grieving widow and the case remained unsolved. It would be 20 years before it was known that the “South Side Dentist” was the city’s worst mass murderer at the time. 1979 The Admiral left for a New Orleans dry-dock for repairs to its hull. The repairs were expected to take just a few weeks, but it turned out the Admiral had made her last cruise. By 1981, it appeared the ship would never return to St. Louis and was doomed to the scrap heap. 1982 Hidden Valley Ski Resort opened. Tim Boyd had bought the Wildwood Golf Course for $250,000 in 1977 and converted some of the surrounding hills into ski runs. The resort added additional skiing area and underwent a major renovation in 2011. 1992 A great day for commuters. The new Discovery Bridge carrying Highway 370 across the Missouri north of St. Charles was opened. It replaced the old 115 bridge, built in 1903. Almost immediately, the daily backups headed for the Blanchette Bridge on Highway 70 began to ease.
Posted on: Wed, 17 Dec 2014 11:20:24 +0000
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