Train on Trestle, circa 1903-1920 Photograph by C. Page Hatch.
Loaned by the Skinner House, Griggsville, Illinois
The Illinois River area saw the birth of the first Illinois rail line, the Northern Cross, in 1838. The Illinois River Railroad was to follow in 1860, and the St. Louis, Rock Island, and Chicago arrived in Beardstown in 1869. These routes linked Illinois River towns to main lines, in hopes of spurring an alternative route to St. Louis for passengers and agricultural and river products.
Through the 1920s, until the automobile became common, trains were the main land transportation available along the river. Browning, for example, had six trains a day come through to take commodities and passengers to various destinations along the river.
Meredosia River Museum's artifacts and images illustrate the beginnings of rail travel. Audio clips feature river residents who shipped fish and waterfowl by rail. Video clips show fishermen packing fish for rail transport. Text features a survey report on the construction of a rail line. Photographs show trains and rail bridges during floods.