During World War II, the USO operated substantially in Rolla, serving thousands of soldiers on leave who sought recreation and a chance to get away from military life at Fort "Lost-in-the-Woods." The need for appropriate, segregated facilities led to the construction of two nearly identical USO buildings on Ninth Street in 1942. One building, for black soldiers, stood on east Ninth Street near the railroad depot; after the war, it became the public library and the home of Rolla Municipal Utilities, and it is now part of the Rolla City Hall complex.