Trains Streetcars and Railroads

Resources are listed in alphabetical order. More information can always be found by using our website search bar, or contacting a member of our staff.

A Community in Conflict

Digital Exhibit

1 item

1917

In 1917 Bloomington-Normal’s street railway workers were unhappy about their pay and the number of days they worked per week. They organized a union to consolidate their power, hopeful that change would happen.

Digital Exhibit

Abraham Lincoln in McLean County

1 item

The Varied Caseload of A. Lincoln, Attorney

Lincoln took legal work where he could find it. His cases ranged from murder trials to mundane ...

Digital Exhibit

Articles

A small selection of Pages from our Past articles written by Bill Kemp

13 items

Before railroads, stage lines crisscrossed the prairies

One of the more striking modern day conveniences we take for granted is the ease of long distan...

Article

a yellow paper and faded print shows a dog with his mouth open, tongue hanging out. He has dark fur that is wavy, thick all the way down to his furry paws. He has floppy ears. He has four legs in this image. Below the image of the dog it says

Beloved ‘Rags’ rode the rails to local fame

The story of “Rags” is proof that most everyone loves a shaggy dog story, especially those of t...

Article

Bloomington inescapably linked to Springfield Race Riot

The Springfield Race Riot of August 14-15, 1908, when thousands of white residents rampaged thr...

Article

Flying Wards in their East Emerson Street practice barn

Circus train wreck takes life of local aerialist Jennie Ward

This week marks the 100th anniversary of the horrific Hagenbeck-Wallace Circus train wreck, one...

Article

Community fund drive kept C&A Shops in Bloomington

Local and state governments often offer incentives to keep existing businesses or attract new o...

Article

“In appearance the grand master suggests the banker or the prosperous businessman,” it was said of Patrick H. Morrissey. “In height he is about 5 feet 10 inches, weighs perhaps 185 pounds, wears a mustache and hair that is reddish in hue, and possesses a pair of blue eyes that can see things and understand.”

Labor leader product of west side railroad shops

Born and raised on Bloomington’s west side, Patrick Henry Morrissey became a national labor lea...

Article

President Johnson receives ‘stern rebuke’ from locals in 1866

There’s plenty of handwringing these days over the corrosive effects of political polarization....

Article

Although of poor quality, this is the only known photograph of the Pullman Strike of 1894 as it unfolded at the Union Depot on Bloomington’s west side. Note all the idle Pullman coaches and sleepers. Marooned passengers found various ways to while away the hours. Riders on a Pullman sleeper attached to a C&A limited spent much of July 3 — “all the afternoon and all the evening till midnight” — singing popular songs of the day, such as “Sweet Marie,” “John Brown’s Body” and “In Old Madrid.”

Pullman Strike left Twin Cities at standstill

On July 3, 1894, area residents flocked to the Chicago & Alton Railroad on Bloomington’s we...

Article

Railroad shops center of deadly 1920 typhoid outbreak

For much of its first 100 years, Bloomington’s formerly unreliable water supply threatened to h...

Article

Railroaders’ library once west side hub

Many longtime Twin City residents will remember long-gone Withers Library, located at the corne...

Article

Twin Cities once hosted own Chautauqua

“The most American thing in America.” That’s what Theodore Roosevelt said of the Chautauqua mov...

Article

Gulf, Mobile and Ohio Railroad passenger train rumbling through Bloomington's west side.

West side Subway Club earned notoriety in late ’50s

Try as he might, Bloomington Mayor Robert McGraw could not close the Subway Club, an afterhours...

Article

‘Trolley Days’ raised funds for the underprivileged

“Let the slogan of the day be, ‘Ride for Charity,’” announced the Jul. 6, 1911 Pantagraph. “Lea...

Article

Biographies

9 items

Black and white photograph of an older man, Jesse Fell, wearing a simple suit. He has a nice gaze, looking off into the distance, and a slight upward turn to his mouth

Fell, Jesse Weldon

Jesse Weldon Fell was born on November 10, 1808 to Jesse Fell and Rebecca Roman Fell at his fat...

Biography

Portrait of Linus Graves, a middle-aged man wearing a white collared shirt, vest, and jacket, with full beard and large nose.

Graves, Linus

Linus Graves was born in Williamstown, Vermont on April 2, 1815 one of eleven children born to ...

Biography

Hall, Helen Ross

Helen Ross was born on September 15, 1846 in the village of Kenagh, in County Longford, Ireland...

Biography

Hawks, Samuel Lockhart

Samuel Lockhart Hawks, known as “Louis” Hawks, was born in Scotland on March 7, 1832 the son of...

Biography

Jackman, John

John Adams Jackman was born March 22, 1816 in Boscawen, New Hampshire, where his great-grandfat...

Biography

Jackman, Sarah Farnum Sargent

Sarah Farnum Sargent Jackman was born on December 18, 1816 in Boscawen, New Hampshire. She was ...

Biography

Law, David D.

David D. Law was born in Lebanon City, Pennsylvania on March 30, 1852 and was the son of Willia...

Biography

Moore, Asa Harvey

Asa Harvey Moore was born on October 20, 1820 in Rutland, Westchester County, Massachusetts. He...

Biography

Price, John Joseph

John Joseph Price was born on October 16, 1835 in Cincinnati, Ohio. Little information is known...

Biography

Blog

2 items

McHistory: 33 years on the streetcar

Listen to the audio on WGLT's website hereMcHistory goes back in time to explore big momen...

Blog Post

McHistory: Rags the Dog, The Illinois Traction System Mascot

Listen to the audio on WGLT's website hereMcHistory goes back in time to explore big momen...

Blog Post

Farming in the Great Corn Belt

Digital Exhibit

2 items

1853 to 1899: Labor

The railroad arrived in 1853, bringing with it an influx of immigrants willing to provide labor...

Digital Exhibit

Grain Elevators

As corn yields increased, grain elevators began to be built along the railroad. These receiving...

Digital Exhibit

Finding Aids

13 items

Alton Railroad Community Band

The Alton Railroad Community Band was established to boost ticket sales during the Great Depres...

Finding Aid

Amtrak Timetables

Amtrak schedules for routes around the country, including Illinois and surrounding states....

Finding Aid

Chicago & Alton Railroad Miscellaneous

The coming of the Illinois Central and the Chicago and Alton Railroads in the 1850s changed Blo...

Finding Aid

Childers, James Railroad

James H. Childers (1903-65) was born in Tennessee and according to the census achieved a fourth...

Finding Aid

Gossard, Steve Railroad

Born in Galesburg in 1949, Steve Gossard moved to Normal to study at Illinois State University ...

Finding Aid

Haxel Railroading

Delmar Haxel, born in Bloomington in 1920, worked for the Illinois Central Gulf Railroad for th...

Finding Aid

Huber, Dale Railroad Ephemera

Dale Huber (1917-1985) was born April 15, 1917, in Gridley, Illinois. He married Opal Drake on ...

Finding Aid

Illinois Central Railroad

The Illinois Central was a major carrier of passengers on its Chicago to New Orleans line and b...

Finding Aid

Illinois Traction Terminal

The Bloomington-to-Peoria interurban line was one of the more charming railroad jaunts in all o...

Finding Aid

Latino History Project Collection

The McLean County Latino History Project seeks to research and record the culture and experienc...

Finding Aid

Railroad Books—Miscellaneous

The collection includes assorted books of labor agreements, wage schedules, rules books, manual...

Finding Aid

Railroad Fatalities

The collection includes copies of newspaper articles and obituaries of individuals killed in ra...

Finding Aid

Railroad Time Books

Railroad foremen used time books to record workers’ names, hours, wages and specifics of projec...

Finding Aid

Making a Home

Digital Exhibit

1 item

O'Neil Family

Mary Motherway O’Neil lost her husband from fever at the height of the Irish famine. Because sh...

Digital Exhibit

Speakers Bureau

3 items

'Forty Acres:' Bloomington’s Irish Railroad Neighborhood

Speakers Bureau

McLean County: Transportation Crossroads

Speakers Bureau

What's Coming Down the Line? The Railroad in the American Mind

Speakers Bureau

Videos

2 items

Lunch & Learn: Bloomington's Streetcar Era with Librarian Bill Kemp

Video

Miller Park: An Evening of Stories with Bill Kemp

Video

Working for a Living

Digital Exhibit

3 items

Diesel Engines Replace Steam Engines

The merger of the Chicago & Alton and Gulf, Mobile & Ohio (GM&O) railroads in 1946,...

Digital Exhibit

Railroad Workers Were Still in Demand

Despite the rising popularity of auto travel, rail transportation remained prominent. Laborers ...

Digital Exhibit

Working in a Dangerous and Challenging Environment

Running the trains, whether freight or passenger, meant higher pay, as well as increased risks....

Digital Exhibit