City of Ballwin Missouri Government history

After successive improvements, in 1836, the State Legislature upgraded the road's designation to a coach road, and it was known for a time as "Old State Road," but later as Manchester Road.

The town was originally recorded as "Ballshow", but two days later, on February 9, 1837, Ball amended the recorded plat to be named Ballwin.

On the night of August 31, 1859, John Ball passed away after a long illness.

Blinne was the son of a Gasconade County farmer, who, with his wife, Dorothea, ran a general store in Ballwin, beginning in 1903.

When his store burned down in 1912, with the help of many friends, he rebuilt.

Bopp sold the property to Will Schisler in 1915.

In 1916, Schisler established the Calla Lily Dairy Farm and erected the main dairy barn, office, and silos.

When the street car ceased running to Meramec Highlands in the 1920's, he extended his route to Maplewood.

It was purchased by John Ganahl in 1923.

The move to the modern-day site at Jefferson Road and Lyons Street occurred in 1946, when the Ballwin Athletic Association paid $500 an acre for the then 10-acre site.

In the years that followed, Ballwin has grown from the town Ball knew, with only a few homes and businesses, to a small village of 750 people when it was incorporated on December 29, 1950, to a thriving City of 32,000 today.

Manchester Road's expansion to four lanes in 1963 was marked by a mammoth ribbon cutting at the eastern city limits of Manchester.

In 1968, a fire of undetermined cause damaged the barn extensively.

In 1972, the Ballwin Post 611 American Legion team won the American Legion National Championship.

The building reopened in 1974, hosting retail and entertainment destinations.