Will County IL Archives History - Books .....Transportation 1890 ************************************************ Copyright. All rights reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://www.usgwarchives.net/il/ilfiles.htm ************************************************ File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by: Deb Haines ddhaines@gmail.com August 25, 2007, 8:46 pm Book Title: Portrait & Bio Album Of Will Co IL One of the most important factors in the business development and prosperity of a city, county or State, is its railroad communications. A retrospection of the history of the South Platte Country since the advent of railroad facilities, will convince the careful observer of the immense benefit resulting from the introduction of this essential adjunct of commercial enterprise. The following brief sketches of the leading railroads of this section of the great commonwealth will form an interesting feature of this Album. It may be remarked in this connection that the roads referred to are not only the important corporations of Kansas, but stand among the first in the Nation. Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific Is among the oldest and most important trunk lines, having Chicago for its eastern terminus — the completion of this road in Illinois marked an important era in the development of the northern and western portion of the State, as well as contributing to the upbuilding of many thriving manufacturing cities on its line—-notably Joliet, Moline, Rock Island and Davenport; also with its two branches extending to Peoria, has opened up good markets for the extensive coal and agricultural resources of that locality, likewise giving a rapid impetus to the commercial and manufacturing resources of Peoria. Moline (except Chicago), is probably the most important and extensive manufacturing city on the line, and through the enterprise of the great Rock Island Route it has been enabled to lay down its manufactured wares to the farmers of Southern Iowa, Northern Missouri and Kansas, cheaper than by any other road, and the vast lumber interests of the cities of Rock Island and Davenport have by means of this line been enabled to reach the most important, as well as the most remote, places in Kansas. The Rock Island has always been in the very van of railroad progress; while always solid and substantial, yet it has ever been steadily and constantly building new lines and extending its system until it now ramifies into the best regions of the Mississippi and Missouri Valleys. It lines extending to Denver, Colorado Springs, and other points in Colorado, offer unsurpassed facilities, to the tourist or man of business for elegant and comfortable traveling; its superb dining cars have among travelers made it renowned as among the best roads of the West. In brief the Rock Island Company has by a judicious system of permanent improvements, and by the introduction of all modern appliances which tend to the preservation of life and property, placed itself in such a condition, materially and physically, that its financial future cannot be affected by the contingencies which seriously affect other roads. Its success as one of the great highways of the West is an assured reality. It might be appropriately noted here that while much of this road's past success may be attributed to its admirable geographical location, embracing a very rich section of the country for local traffic, and with a termini on Lake Michigan, the Mississippi and Missouri Rivers and Denver, the heart of the Rocky Mountain regions, equally as much is due to the stability of the management, and to the fact that the property has never yet become the foot-ball of speculators. It is not surprising that the Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific has maintained a firm position as an investment in the moneyed centers of the world, and it has acquired a well-merited popularity with the traveling and shipping public. Its steel rails and well ballasted road-bed have long since made it the favorite with shippers, and its freight traffic is immense and growing. At Council Bluffs and Omaha, connections are made with all roads centering there. It is the most direct and shortest route between Omaha and Chicago—and hence the favorite of shippers. At Davenport a branch diverges to the Southwest, and extends to Kansas City, Leavenworth, Atchison and St. Joseph. At St. Joseph the road crosses the Missouri and enters Kansas; at Horton the line diverges and extends up into Nebraska as far as Nelson; from Fairbury, Neb., the line extends through Northern Kansas to Denver, and Colorado Springs. From Horton the line leads in a southwesterly direction through Topeka, the capital of the State; thence to Herington, Hutchinson and to Liberal, the latter place on the line of the Indian Territory. At McFarland a spur extends in a northwestern direction through Manhattan and Clay Center to Belleville, where a junction is made with the main line to Denver, Col.; at Herington a short branch goes to Abilene and Salina. From Herington the line passes south through Wichita and Wellington to Caldwell, on the line of the Indian Territory. With its accustomed energy this road was the first to complete its line into the Oklahoma country, passing through Kingfisher, and having El Reno for its Southern terminus. CHARACTERISTICS OF THE ROAD. The whole number of miles operated by the Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific Railway at the present time, including second tracks and sidings, is about four thousand and ninety-three miles. The main track mileage in the following States is: Illinois, 236 miles; Iowa, 1,066.10; Missouri, 286.70; Kansas, 1,147.37; Nebraska, 140.97; Colorado, 376.06; and Indian Territory, 106.75— 186.70 second track, and about 565.45 side track. This company has a contract for joint use of track with the Hannibal & St. Joseph between Kansas City and Cameron Junction; with the Union Pacific Railway from Kansas City to North Topeka, also from Linion to Denver; and with the Denver & Rio Grande between Denver and Pueblo. The principal shops of this company are located at Chicago, Ill.; Rock Island, Ill.; Stewart, Iowa; Trenton, Mo.; Horton and Goodland, Kan.; and Roswell, Colo. Solid trains, carrying all classes of passengers, are run through between Chicago, Denver, Pueblo, Colorado Springs, via St. Joseph, Kansas City and Topeka; through trains to Wichita, El Reno (Ft. Reno), Hutchinson, Dodge City, Salina and Abilene. The line is equipped with first- class baggage, mail, smoking cars and coaches; chair cars of the latest improved pattern of chairs, and Pullman Palace Sleeping Cars. Dining cars are now running on all through passenger trains between Colorado points and Chicago, and also between Council Bluffs and Chicago, and eating-houses are located at convenient points on all divisions for the accommodation of local trains. It is contemplated to establish dining-car service on the whole line, in the near future. In regard to freight traffic, the management has a comprehensive system of through cars and way-billing to all prominent points in the West, Northwest and Southwest. Having their own rails between Chicago, Peoria and Kansas City, St. Joseph, Omaha and Denver, no delays or transfers between Chicago and any of these points. Also run through cars to the Pacific Coast via all lines having terminals on the coast. Less than car-load shipments to all prominent points in through cars, thus avoiding transfers and delay. Special attention is paid to live stock from all points on the line. At present there is one hundred and eighty-seven miles of double track being operated, one hundred and eighty-one miles of which is located in Illinois, between Chicago and Rock Island; the balance in Iowa, from Davenport to what is known as Double Track Junction, about six miles west of Davenport on the Council Bluff line. The experience of the past has clearly demonstrated that whatever is undertaken by the managers of the Rock Island is not merely done, but done well, that they possess to an almost unlimited extent the confidence of Eastern and European capitalists, and that they are remarkably shrewd and far-seeing in anything which affects the present or the future interests of their property. It will be observed that all the great leading marts of trade in Kansas are tapped by this road, thereby giving to that portion of the West a strong and substantial competitive market with the great Eastern commercial centers. Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railway, POPULARLY known as the Santa Fe Route. The initial lines of this great system were first built from Atchison to Topeka, in 1869, and for many years the former city was the Eastern terminus of the road. The management of the Santa Fe, with wonderful energy, pushed out its lines in every direction into the young and growing State of Kansas, and in the majority of instances preceding settlement and civilization. This road was the first to penetrate across the southern part of Colorado, via Pueblo and Trinidad into New Mexico, until its lines penetrated the old adobe town of Santa Fe, whose citizens were half Spanish and half Mexican. As its course penetrated the wilderness it sometimes followed the old Santa Fe Trail, and generally not far distant at any time from the "trail" which had been made famous years before by trappers and also by the Government freighters. The marvelous growth and development of the State of of Kansas is in a great measure due to the enterprise and public spirit of the managers of the Santa Fe System. Not only did they devote their energy to the upbuilding of the road, but at great expense they maintained emigration and Colonial agents in the various countries of Europe, as well as in the Eastern, Middle and Southern States, thereby advertising the State of Kansas as no other State has heretofore been done. Its climate, its soil and great advantages to the home seeker were at times fully portrayed by the enterprise of this road—every fostering care was given to the stock and ranch men, to the merchant, the mechanic and the manufacturer to settle in Kansas—as a result we have here a State in the center of the Union, of boundless agricultural resources, settled by a wide-awake, enterprising and prosperous people. The Santa Fe owns and operates more miles of road in Kansas than any other line, with its vast system of East and West, North and South lines reaching every important town in the State, and penetrating sixty-three counties in Kansas. The magnitude of its business is immense. Its lines beginning at the Missouri River towns in Kansas are St. Joseph, Atchison, Leavenworth and Kansas City; extends south to Coffeyville, Arkansas City, Hunnewell, Caldwell, New Kiowa (thence to the Pan Handle of Texas), and north to Superior, in Nebraska; Concordia, Clay Center, Minneapolis, and other Northern Kansas cities. Its main lines and branches reach nearly every important city in the State. St. Joseph, on the Missouri side of the river, has a population of nearly one hundred thousand, and its wholesale trade is heavy throughout the West. Atchison is a growing city of about twenty thousand people; the Soldiers' Orphans Home of the State is located here. Leavenworth, with her thirty thousand people, is an important manufacturing center. Leavenworth was the earliest famous city of Kansas, as it was the original outfitting point for travel and traffic across the plains. The Kansas system may be described as a main east and west line, over four hundred miles in length, with branch lines extending in every direction where an area of particularly rich country, or some other special advantages invited a line of rails. The road from Topeka, after 1869, was extended west and south, and then east to Kansas City by purchase of a line built by another company. From Kansas City, in 1887-88 the line was extended to Chicago, under the name of the Chicago, Santa Fe & California Road; in 1887, also the purchase of the Gulf, Colorado & Santa Fe Road, and the extension of the Kansas lines through the Indian Territory to Texas, gave the company a line to the Gulf of Mexico. So that at the present time the Santa Fe System proper begins at Chicago, passes through Illinois, Iowa, Missouri, Kansas, Colorado, Indian Territory, Texas, New Mexico, Arizona and California, and has for its Southern terminals Galveston, on the Gulf of Mexico, and El Paso, on the Mexican frontier; and for its Western terminals San Diego and Los Angeles, on the Pacific Coast, (San Francisco being practically a Pacific-Coast terminal, as it is reached via Mojave, over the tracks of the Southern Pacific Railway); and for its Northern terminals Chicago, St. Joseph, Mo., Superior, Neb., and Denver, the capital of Colorado. Chicago to Kansas City is practically an air line, being the most straight and direct of any road between the two cities. It passes through a large number of important towns in Illinois, including Joliet, with its great steel works, and other manufacturing interests. The next important place is Streator, a few miles south of the latter place; a branch extends to the thriving city of Pekin, on the Illinois River. From Streator the main line crosses the Illinois at Chillicothe, and extends through Peoria and Knox Counties to the beautiful and enterprising city of Galesburg, here it comes in competition with several lines of the Burlington System; thence running in a southwesterly direction through a rich and populous section, crossing the Mississippi at Ft. Madison, on a magnificent steel bridge. Here the company have established shops, that being the terminus of the two operating divisions of the road. From Ft. Madison by a spur Keokuk is reached. The line through Missouri shows very heavy construction work, made to secure what was desired in the way of distance and grades. Along the Santa Fe new towns are springing up, and new industries are being developed. Twenty miles east of Kansas City the Missouri River is crossed by a steel bridge, so that the line enters Kansas City on the south side of the river. From Kansas City to Topeka the line runs on the South bank of the Kansas River; at Wilder and Holliday are points for the departure of branch lines—one northwest to Atchison, and the other southwest through Ottawa and Southern Kansas, being known as the Southern Kansas division of the Santa Fe System. From Lawrence by Topeka the road is still in the Kansas Valley, through a veritable garden. Native trees of great height overhang the railway here and there, and in the spring and summer the crops look green and luxuriant. The approach to Topeka is through the long yards, and by the vast machine shops of the Santa Fe Company, across various broad streets to a commodious brick station. The general offices of the road are in Topeka, and occupy a handsome and commodious building near the State capitol. From Topeka to Denver the Santa Fe Route runs for about seventy- five miles in a southwesterly direction to the upper waters of Neosho River, at Emporia, passing through Osage County, where are found some of the richest coal fields of the West. At Newton the line diverges south through Southern Kansas, the Indian Territory and Texas to Galveston; continuing west from Newton the first city of importance reached is Hutchinson; here are some of the heaviest salt works in the United States, besides other extensive manufacturing interests. West of Hutchinson the line extends through a fertile, prosperous and rapidly growing district. The line is beautified here and there by many thriving cities and villages. At La Junta, in Colorado, the line for New Mexico, Arizona and beyond, turns south. Pueblo, sixty-five miles due west of La Junta, for years the terminus of the Santa Fe System, is a growing manufacturing city. It is admirably located with reference to the great ore-producing canons of Colorado. All roads leading to it, coal, iron, silver, gold, lead, copper, building stone, everything in fact which is produced in the greatest mining State in the Union, roll naturally down hill to Pueblo. Beyond Pueblo to the west are many thriving cities founded on mining and agriculture, notably: Leadville, the greatest mining camp in Colorado; while forty miles north, on the line of the Santa Fe, are the lovely villages of Colorado Springs, and Manitou, nestling at the foot of Pike's Peak. Manitou is at the mouth of a deep canon, and is one of the most lovely summer resorts in America. Near here is the famous "Garden of the Gods," whose wondrous beauty and grandeur is unsurpassed. From Colorado Springs westward, through Manitou and up the canon beyond Pike's Peak, the Colorado Midland Railway is pushing its way far toward the the western borders of the State. Eighty miles north of Colorado Springs the Santa Fe line terminates at Denver, a magnificently built city of nearly two hundred thousand people. It is probable that no American city has so many features of unique beauty as Denver. Its splendid public buildings, and its broad avenues lined with beautiful residences, cozily located at the foot of the snow-capped mountains of the Rocky range, render it unlike any other city of its size in the world. The ride from Pueblo to Denver along the foot of the mountains is one never to be missed. The snow-covered peaks, the many combinations of sun and cloud, and rain and snow; the marvelous atmosphere, all combine to surprise and charm the beholder. From Newton to Galveston, the line leaving the main east and west line in Kansas at Newton, runs directly south to Galveston. The first place of importance reached is the phenomenal city of Wichita, located on the Big and Little Arkansas Rivers, a city of thirty-five thousand people, where only a few years ago was an Indian trading-post. Wichita is one of the most remarkable cities in the West. It has a heavy and growing wholesale trade, and a large amount of manufacturing business, including the Burton Stock Car Works, the Dold & Whitaker Meat-Packing establishments. The city is handsomely laid out, and has many handsome public buildings, commodious business houses and spacious residences, situated on broad avenues, lined with beautiful shade trees. South of Wichita is a cluster of growing cities, comprising Winfield, Wellington, Arkansas City and Caldwell. Wichita and Arkansas City have profited much by the opening up of Oklahoma to settlement. Entering the Indian Territory the line passes through a magnificent agricultural country, as yet almost wholly undeveloped. In Texas the principal cities on the line between the Indian Territory and Galveston, are Gainesville, Paris, Ft. Worth, Cleburne, Dallas, Morgan, Temple, Brenham, Houston and Richmond. Galveston, the terminus, is a rapidly j growing city of fifty thousand inhabitants. It is charmingly situated on the Gulf Coast, and has an unsurpassed climate in both summer and winter. From La Junta to El Paso, the line leaving La Junta climbs to the summit of the Raton Range, seventy-six hundred and twenty-two feet above the sea. On the way up it passes through the important Colorado towns of El Moro and Trinidad. The village of Raton is an important division point for the railway, and then comes Las Vegas and its famous hot springs, six miles distant from the main line, but connected with it by a short line with good equipments. At the Hot Springs is the Phoenix Hotel. The springs are unsurpassed anywhere in the world, and the hotel is conducted by the company in the most generous manner imaginable. The springs are forty-two in number, and are hot and cold, and have a variety of mineral properties which render them remarkably strong in their curative power. South of Las Vegas the line passes through fertile valleys, heavy forests, and black and rugged canons, until the valley of the Rio Grande is reached. A branch line from Lamy extends up the mountain to Santa Fe, the capital of New Mexico, next to St. Augustine, the oldest city in America. Santa Fe has a new State House, and its quaint old churches and dwellings are intersperscd with modern structures. It should be seen before the peculiar charm of its antiquity has been entirely destroyed. Albuquerque, Socorro and San Marcial are the chief points between Santa Fe and El Paso. All are important points for the business of mining, cattle raising and general commerce. From Rincon a branch line leads to Deming, where junction is made with the Southern Pacific Railway, and to Silver City, and to the other mining towns of Southern New Mexico. It is the fortunate destiny of New Mexico generally, and the Rio Grande Valley particularly, to soon take front rank in the line of fruit production. The grapes produced in the Lower Rio Grande Valley are not surpassed in either quality or quantity by the product of any part of the Continent. From Albuquerque to the Pacific Coast, in the heart of New Mexico, due west, the Atlantic & Pacific Railroad forms the main Santa Fe Route to California. The line passes through a great mining and stock-raising country, where the climate is perfect. Prescott, the capital of Arizona, is reached by a branch from Prescott Junction. Constant changes of scenery characterize the line, and the crossing of the Colorado Canon is one of the most remarkable accomplishments known in the railroad world. In Southern California the lines of the California Central & Southern reach every important city. Barstow, San Bernardino, Colton, San Diego, National City, Los Angeles, and a hundred other beautiful towns offer unequaled inducements to the seeker after health, wealth and pleasure. San Francisco and other cities of Central and Northern California are reached by the lines of the Southern Pacific by virtue of a special arrangement for traffic. Between Chicago and Kansas City meals are served on the finest dining cars; on the other lines and branches are superb eating-houses and hotels. No expense is spared in securing elegant accommodations; the supplies are secured from the best markets East and West. From the resume thus given of the facilities possessed by the Santa Fe Railway, for interchanging traffic at its termini and various junctions, it must be apparent to the reader that the line is admirably situated, and that in many respects it occupies a strategic position, superior to that of other trans-Missouri and Mississippi railroads. These advantages have been utilized in the past, as they will be in the future, in developing the localities through which the various branches extend, and to build up the permanent prosperity of the property whose history is so closely interwoven with the settlement, development and prosperity of the West beyond the Missouri River. Its local traffic compares favorably with that of other competing lines. To this purely local traffic must be added the contributions of its several termini, all large cities and prominent trade centers in the Missouri and Mississippi Valleys. With the growth and steady development of the manufacturing and other industries of Chicago, Kansas City, St. Joseph, Atchison, Leavenworth, Topeka, Wichita, Galveston, El Paso, Pueblo and Denver, the Santa Fe Railway must materially make corresponding strides toward attaining that proud financial position which has been the life dream of its originators and present owners. Under the present progressive and conservative management, all advantages of geograpical position, and all the resources of the through line will be constantly utilized in building up the future prosperity of the road itself, and in developing the extended area of Chicago's commercial supremacy. The Land Grant from the Government amounted substantially to three million acres. In brief its commanding geographical position, coupled with its direct Eastern alliance for through business, must render the Santa Fe eventually one of the most remunerative of our Western railroads. The Wabash. To the public and our thousands of readers in general:—It will no doubt be interesting to all if we give a brief description of this road. The Wabash, as now known, has been operated under several names from time to time. It is the offspring, as it were, of the first line of road projected in Illinois, then known as the Northern Cross Railroad, extending from Danville to Quincy. This was chartered in 1837, and upon it the first locomotive was placed in the winter of 1838-39, running from Meredosia, on the Illinois River, to Jacksonville. In 1842 the road was completed from Jacksonville to Springfield, and three trips were made per week. The track was of the old flat rail style, which was made by nailing thin strips of iron on two parallel lines of timbers placed at the proper distance apart, and running lengthways of the road. The engine as well as the road soon became so impaired that the former had to be abandoned, and mules substituted as the motor power. However, such locomotion was destined to be of short duration, for the State soon after sold the entire road for a nominal sum, and thus for a short time was suspended one of the first railroad enterprises in Illinois. But in the West a new era—one of prodigious industrial activity and far-reaching results in the practical arts— was dawning, and within thirty years of the temporary failure of the road mentioned, Illinois had outstripped all others in gigantic internal improvements, and at present has more miles of railroad than any other State in the Union. The Great Western, whose name has been successively changed to Toledo, Wabash & Western, Wabash, and Wabash, St. Louis & Pacific, and Wabash Railroad, and The Wabash, the last of which it still bears, was an extension of the Northern Cross Railroad, above mentioned,and traverses some of the finest portions of Illinois, Indiana and Ohio. It soon became the popular highway of travel and traffic between the East and the West. Through a system of consolidation, unparalleled in American railways, it has become a giant among them, and has added many millions of dollars to the value of bonds and shares of the various companies now incorporated in the Wabash system. The road takes its title from the river of that name, a tributary of tht Ohio, which in part separates the States of Illinois and Indiana. In looking over the map of the Wabash Railroad it will be seen that the line extends through the most fertile and wealthy portions of the center of the United States, having termini at more large cities than any other Western road. It was indeed a far-reaching sagacity which consolidated these various lines into the Wabash system, forming one immense chain of great commercial activity and power. Its terminal facilities are unsurpassed by any competing line. Its home offices are established in commodious quarters in St. Louis. The lines of the road are co-extensive with the importance of the great transportation facilities required for the products of the Mississippi Valley. This line passes through the States of Iowa, Missouri, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio and Michigan. The various lines of road may be divided into the following: Miles. St. Louis to Chicago, 286 Toledo to Kansas City, 662 St. Louis to Des Moines, 360 Logansport to Detroit, 207 Chicago to Laketon Junction, 123 Clayton to Keokuk, 42 Bluffs to Quincy, 105 Streator to Forest, 37 Attica to Covington, 15 Champaign to Sidney, 12 Edwardsville to Edwardsville Crossing, 9 Bement to Altamont and Effingham, 63 Brunswick to Omaha, 225 Roseberry to Clarinda, 21 Salisbury to Glasgow, 15 Centralia to Columbia, 22 Miles of main lines and branches: 2204 From the above main line and branches as indicated, it will readily be seen that the Wabash connects with more large cities and great marts of trade than any other line, bringing Omaha, Kansas City, Des Moines, Keokuk, Quincy, St. Louis, Chicago, Toledo and Detroit together with one continuous line of steel rails. This road has an immense freight traffic of the cereals, live-stock, various productions and manufactured articles of the West and the States through which it passes. Its facilities for rapid transit for the vast productions of the packing houses of Kansas City and St. Louis, to Detroit, Toledo and the Eastern marts of trade, is unequalled. A large portion of the grain productions of Kansas, Nebraska, Iowa, Missouri, Illinois and Indiana, finds its way to the Eastern markets over the lines of this road. The Wabash has always taken an advanced position in tariffs, and its course toward its patrons has been just and liberal, so that it has always enjoyed the commendation of the business and traveling public. The road bed is one of the best in the country, and is ballasted with gravel and stone, well tied and laid with steel rails. The bridges along the various lines and branches are substantial structures. The depots, grounds and general property of the road are in good condition. The management of the Wabash is fully abreast of the times. The road is progressive in every respect. The finest passenger cars on the continent are run on its lines, and every effort made to advance the interests of its patrons. The passenger department is unexcelled for the elegant and substantial comfort afforded travelers. On several of the more important branches of the system, dining cars are run. Chicago & Alton. The Chicago & Alton has more miles of road in this county than any other line, and has been a great factor in the development of the western part of the county, and especially of the city of Joliet. In conjunction with the Illinois & Michigan Canal it furnished the first opportunity for the shipment of the immense output of the stone quarries of Joliet, and after the establishment of the iron mills and other manufacturing concerns, other roads came in to compete for the traffc. In one continuous line it connects the three great cities—Chicago, St. Louis and Kansas City. The road has a large and increasing freight and passenger traffic, and its road bed is of a substantial and permanent character, while its rolling stock is always in first class shape. Michigan Central. This road will prove an important adjunct in the development of Joliet, inasmuch as it furnishes with its extraordinary connections the best of transportation facilities to the Eastern markets for the manufactured, farm and stone products of the county. Illinois Central. In September, 1850, Congress passed an Act, and it was approved by President Fillmore, granting an aggregate of 2,595,053 acres of land to aid in building this road. The Act granted the right of way, and gave alternate sections of land for six miles on either side of the road. The grant of land was made directly to the State. On the 10th of February, 1851, the Legislature of Illinois granted a charter to an Eastern company, represented by Rantoul and others, to build it, with a capital stock of $1,000,000. The Legislature, in granting the charter and transferring to the corporation the lands, stipulated that seven per cent, of the gross earnings of the road should be paid semi- annually into the treasury of the State forever. This wise provision, in lieu of the liberal land grant, yields a handsome annual revenue to the State. This road has a total length of seven hundred and six miles in Illinois alone, connecting Cairo with Chicago and Dunleith, or from Cairo to Centralia one hundred and twelve miles, and from Centralia to Dunleith three hundred and forty-one miles. At Dunleith a fine steel bridge spans the Mississippi, connecting the former city with Dubuque, from which point a line traverses the State of Iowa, having for its western terminus the thriving city of Sioux City. At Cairo the Ohio is spanned by a high and splendid steel bridge, over which through trains are run to New Orleans. This road is one of the great trunk lines of Illinois and the Mississippi Valley. Its principal leased line in this State is the Gilman & Springfield road, and with its Iowa and New Orleans divisions serves to mark it as one of the principal roads of the West. Chicago & Eastern Illinois. This important road passes through the townships of Crete and Washington, in this county, from north to south, having about thirteen miles, including side tracks, in the county. The principal stations are Crete and Beecher. This road furnishes fine facilities for the shipment to Chicago of the products of the above-named township. Elgin, Joliet & Eastern. Better known as the Joliet Belt Line, with its numerous connections, has furnished superior facilities to the large manufacturing and quarry interests of the city, and has been a prominent factor in their development. Additional Comments: Portrait and Biographical Album of Will County, Illinois, Containing Full Page Portraits and Biographical Sketches of Prominent and Representative Citizens of the County; Chicago: Chapman Bros., 1890 File at: http://files.usgwarchives.net/il/will/history/1890/portrait/transpor95nms.txt This file has been created by a form at http://www.genrecords.net/ilfiles/ File size: 33.3 Kb