104 South Cherry St.

The building at 104 South Cherry Street was built in 1903 as a one-story building to hold a bank. When the bank didn't move into the new building, it became a combination saloon/ restaurant/ meat market. A rear wing and a second story was added in 1908; the massive space with no post supports became a dance hall. The dance hall was used at times for public meetings and basketball games. When the U.S. went "dry" the saloon became a pool hall and then a bowling alley. New owners on the 2000s have restored the building, which now houses Peel Brewery and Pizza. The building was designated a local landmark by the City of O'Fallon Historic Preservation Commission.

The future site of the 104 S. Cherry St. building was undeveloped land in 1899 except for part of a one-story wood-frame building where an undertaker worked. In 1906, the still one-story brick building at 104 S. Cherry St. was split into several sections. The corner facing S. Cherry and Front St. (now W. First St.) was a meat market, with a restaurant to the rear (south) along S. Cherry St. The rest of the building - slightly more than the east half - was a saloon in front with a bowling alley in the rear. A doorway connected the bowling alley area to a wood frame, 1-story rear wing.

The building was enlarged to the rear with a wood frame addition in 1908; the building covered the whole block between W. First and W. Second St. A wood frame second story was built over the entire building as a single large room. By 1914, the former meat market (in the first floor's northwest corner) had become a barber's shop. The former restaurant in the southwest corner was a vacant store. A saloon still took up the east half of the building, but the bowling alley wasn't labeled on the Sanborn map. The new rear addition was a dwelling on the first floor. The entire second floor of the building was a (dance) hall.

Between 1914 and 1921, the northwest corner of the first floor was rebuilt to form an angled entryway, as seen now. The new entrance accessed a bank in 1921, with a restaurant to the rear. The east half of the structure was no longer a saloon but was a pool hall; the rear wing was still a residence. The second story room was still a hall. Serving liquor was legally prohibited in the U.S. from 1920 to 1933 during Prohibition. The term "saloon" was no longer in fashion by the 1930s and was often replaced with "tavern" or "cocktail lounge."

By 1954, Moonlight Recreation, an amusements business, occupied part of the building. The Moonlight was one of two bowling alleys in town; the other - Central - was destroyed in a fire in 1953. The second story, called "Moonlight Hall" by the 1950s, had been used over the years as a dance hall and a place for public meetings, basketball games, and poultry shows.

The 10,000 square-foot building was extensively renovated in the 2010s to become a pizza restaurant and brewery. Peel's Wood Fired Pizza & Brewery is owned by two local chefs, Patrick Thirion and Brandon Case. The O'Fallon location is one of three Peel's pizza restaurants, with others in Edwardsville, IL and Clayton, MO. Peel Brewing Company, at the O'Fallon location on the entire second floor, uses traditional northern German brewing methods dating to the 1600s. Founded in 2015, the brewery features a seven-barrel brew house and eight-vessel fermentation room.

Duis, Perry R. Saloons, Encyclopedia of Chicago. January 1st, 2005. Accessed December 15th, 2022. http://www.encyclopedia.chicagohistory.org/pages/1110.html.

O'Fallon Centennial Committee. O'Fallon Centennial Celebration, 1854 - 1954, Souvenir Program and History of O"Fallon. O'Fallon, IL. City of O'Fallon, 1954.

Peel Wood Fired Pizza. About Us: Meet the Chef Owners, Peel Wood Fired Pizza. January 1st, 2022. Accessed December 15th, 2022. https://www.peelpizza.com/about-us.

St. Louis Brewers Heritage Foundation. Peel Brewing Co., STL Beer. January 1st, 2022. Accessed December 15th, 2022. https://stlbeer.org/breweries/peel-brewing-co/.

Sanborn Map Company. Map of O'Fallon, St. Clair County, Illinois. New York, NY. Sanborn Map Company, 1899.

Sanborn Map Company. Map of O'Fallon, St. Clair County, Illinois. New York, NY. Sanborn Map Company, 1906.

Sanborn Map Company. Map of O'Fallon, St. Clair County, Illinois. New York, NY. Sanborn Map Company, 1914.

Sanborn Map Company. Map of O'Fallon, St. Clair County, Illinois. New York, NY. Sanborn Map Company, 1921.