The parish complex of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary cuts a stunning profile down the west side of Main Street north of the railroad tracks in the historic section of O’Fallon.

The church is over 150 years old, but I suspect this building is around one hundred years old, built in what I would describe a French Romanesque Revival style.

Further north up the road are more additions that match the style of the older portions of the church, and look to be from the late Twentieth or early Twenty-First centuries.

As is typical of the Romanesque style, the windows are small and the walls are thick and heavy in appearance, with little interruption in the irregular stonework.

There are also some interesting houses of undetermined age further south around the railroad tracks, which cut through the heart of the historic area.

Like many of the smaller towns in St. Charles County, they seem to have grown up along railroad depots that are now demolished.

This building, which had housed McGurk’s, was originally built in 1862 for Frederick Westhoff’s Mercantile, which operated until 1990.