The History of the Chicago, Aurora & Elgin Railroad.

THE CHICAGO, AURORA & ELGIN RAILROAD - THE SHORT STORY

The Chicago Aurora and Elgin Railroad (CA&E), popularly known as the "Roarin' Elgin" or the "Great Third Rail", was an interurban railroad that operated passenger and freight service on its line between Chicago, Illinois and the western suburban towns of Aurora, Batavia, Geneva, St. Charles, and Elgin. The CA&E connected directly with the Chicago Elevated (Metropolitan West Side Elevated Railway.) and the cars operated over the 'L' to provide a one seat ride into the center of Chicago's downtown Loop.

The line proved to be very popular during the buildup of suburban living in the Western suburbs of Chicago, and was always short of equipment to provide a sufficient level of service. Throughout its entire history the line never retired a single car until it ceased operating.

With vehicular traffic still increasing on the eve of World War II the CA&E ordered 10 new interurban cars from St. Louis Car Company in 1941 but they were held up by the shortages created by the war. Once the war ended the cars were built and delivered in the fall of 1945. While these cars incorporated some more modern features available in equipment built in the post war era they had to be able to operate with the railroads older equipment, and this precluded any radical designs. Most historians view these cars as the last traditional interurban cars built in the United States.

In the early 1950's the State of Illinois decided to start construction on the long planned Congress St. Expressway on the right of way of the L and the CA&E and required the removal of the 'L' structure used by the CTA and CA&E. While the CTA continued to provide service via a grade-level temporary alignment, the CA&E chose to cut back to Desplaines Avenue in Forest Park. The loss of the one-seat ride placed the CA&E line at a severe disadvantage. Wounded by this and the increased use of automobiles during the 1950's the CA&E quite abruptly ended passenger service in 1957.

The last train of the Chicago, Aurora & Elgin railroad, barred to paying passengers, departs from the Desplaines Street terminal in Forest Park on July 3, 1957. The passenger service ceased to operate after this day. Conductor Frank Johnson waves as the train carried a few railroad workers to Wheaton.

Freight service was suspended in 1959, and the railroad was officially abandoned in 1961. The railroad was finally liquidated in 1962.

COMPLETE HISTORY OF THE CHICAGO AURORA & ELGIN RAILROAD

IN THE BEGINNING (1899–1901)

The first known attempt to create an electric railway between the metropolis of Chicago and the Fox Valley settlement of Aurora was in late 1891. By this time, passengers in Aurora and Elgin were served by steam engines. Elgin was served by the Milwaukee Road. Geneva and West Chicago served by the Chicago and North Western Railway. St. Charles served by The Chicago and Great Western. And, Aurora was served by the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy (CB&Q). However, it was thought that an electric line would greatly facilitate interurban travel, as there would be no freight trains to slow passenger trains. A group of investors founded the Chicago & Aurora Interurban Railway with a $1 million investment. However, the railroad was unable to secure additional funds; it failed to meet an 1893 construction deadline and effectively ceased operation thereafter.

A second attempt came two years later with the Chicago, Elgin & Aurora Electric Railway. Plans called for the railroad to run through Turner (now West Chicago), Wheaton, and Glen Ellyn. Like its predecessor, the railroad failed to acquire the necessary funds for construction. Yet another group incorporated the DuPage Interurban Electric Railway in 1897, but was met with a similar fate. Small electric lines opened in the 1890s that connected the municipalities of the Fox River Valley. A profitable streetcar railway stretched from Aurora north to Carpentersville. The success of this railway inspired investors to again attempt an electric connection to Chicago. A group led by F. Mahler, E. W. Moore, Henry A. Everett, Edward Dickinson, and Elmer Barrett formed independent railway lines that were projected to stretch from Aurora and Elgin to Chicago. These two companies were incorporated on February 24, 1899. The Everett-Moore group was Ohio's largest interurban railroad company and had experience administrating several lines around Cleveland, most notably the Lake Shore Electric Railway. These two companies, the Aurora, Wheaton & Chicago Railway and Elgin & Chicago Railway, were incorporated on February 24, 1899.

Only one day after their founding, a second group of Cleveland-based investors, led by the Pomeroy-Mandelbaum group, incorporated the Aurora, Wheaton, & Chicago Railroad Company. Pomeroy-Mandelbaum was the second largest interurban railway company in Ohio and intended to compete against the Everett-Moore group. A meeting between the Everett-Moore syndicate and Pomeroy-Mandelbaum group occurred in either 1900 or 1901 to discuss the future of the two companies. They came to an agreement: Everett-Moore would build and maintain the railways connecting Aurora to Chicago while the Pomeroy-Mandelbaum group would control railways linking cities in the Fox River Valley (eventually consolidating as the Aurora, Elgin and Fox River Electric Company [AE&FRE]). A third railway, the Batavia & Eastern Railway Company, was incorporated by the Everett-Moore group in 1901 to link the town of Batavia to the Aurora line. On March 12, 1901, all of the previously incorporated Everett-Moore companies were merged into one, renamed the Aurora, Elgin & Chicago Railway Company (AE&C). Three million dollars' worth of bonds were issued in 1901 to support track construction.

CONSTRUCTION (1901–1902)

Construction commenced on September 18, 1900, when the AE&C started to grade its right-of-way. The AE&C received permission to cross existing track lines in February 1902, alleviating one of the largest obstacles in the railway's construction. Construction escalated following the winter months; by April, the third rail had been completed between Aurora and Wheaton. Later that month, the railway connected to the Metropolitan West Side Elevated Railroad at 52nd Avenue (modern day Laramie Avenue) in Chicago. The company operated steam locomotives on completed portions to deliver construction goods to where they were needed. Wheaton was selected as the site of the railroad's headquarters, car barn, and machine shop. $1.5 million in preferred stock was issued in April 1902 to cover unexpected costs.

AE&C purchased a 28-acre lot south of Batavia and constructed a power station to provide electricity. Commercial electric power was not yet available at the time, so the railroad needed to provide its own power for the third rail. Steam boilers were fed with coal provided by the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy Railroad. On April 11, 1902, they signed a contract with General Electric to provide electrical generators, transformers, and converters for the powerhouse. The line completed a network of utility poles through the right-of-way, allowing communication and power exchange between electrical substations along the track in Aurora, Warrenville, and Lombard. A fifth station was built southeast of Wayne for the Elgin branch. The substations converted the alternating current in the power lines to a lower-voltage direct current for use in the third rail. After its completion, the power station also provided power for at least three small trolley lines and several Fox Valley communities.

The Cleveland Construction Company was hired to build the line. All three rails were traditional "T" design rails laid on stone ballast. Wooden railroad ties were laid 2,816 ties to the mile and separated at standard gauge. Every fifth tie was 9 feet long to support the third rail. The majority of the line was a double track, with a single track running from the Chicago Golf Club to Aurora. Roadbeds for the double track were 30 feet wide and were surrounded by woven wire fencing. The third rail was usually placed on the inner sides of the double track, providing safety for residents and employees. The third rail was interrupted at railroad crossings, where a cable was placed underground to carry the current across the 75-foot gap.

The first inspection trip of the 34.5-mile line was held on May 16, 1902. The train departed from 52nd Avenue to Aurora, then traversed the AE&FRE south to Yorkville then north to Dundee. AE&C management announced later that evening that they planned on opening the line on July 1. The AE&FRE announced soon afterward that it would offer express transfer service from Fox Valley communities to the AE&C. On May 17, the AE&C tested the powerhouse in Batavia and found several problems with its performance. Heavy rains in June stalled construction and washed out some completed roadbed. The opening date was pushed to July 12, but delays in rolling stock production further stalled it to August.

Poor investments forced the Everett-Moore syndicate to sell its shares in the AE&C in mid-1902. The company had formed a telephone company, but struggled to compete with the Bell Telephone Company. In addition, one of their construction companies went bankrupt, spurring a credit crisis in Cleveland. Creditors demanded pay, and the Everett-Moore group sold off several assets, including their shares of the railroad company totaling $200,000. The Pomeroy-Mandelbaum group still held a large share in the company and became leaders in its operation.

The G. C. Kuhlman Car Company was tasked with providing thirty passenger cars but, for unknown reasons, the deal fell through. An order was placed with the Niles Car and Manufacturing Company in March 1902 for ten cars. Niles Cars were in such high demand that the company was unable to fulfill the full order, but did deliver the AE&C's first six cars on July 29, 1902. The cars were 74,325 pounds with four 125 horsepower motors and 36-inch wheels. They were described as "miniature Pullmans" and could seat forty-six or fifty-two passengers. Another twenty cars were ordered from the John Stephenson Car Company and would arrive after the railway was opened.

Car 10 during an inspection on August 4, 1902. The first ten cars were assigned even numbers from 10 to 28. One final problem for the AE&C was finding enough qualified motormen to run the trains. The company found none in the immediate area and had to recruit sixteen men from Dayton, Ohio. Another inspection tour occurred on August 4, from Wheaton to 52nd Avenue. A Niles Car was pulled by a steam locomotive along the track to ensure that none of the curves were too sharp for the intended rolling stock. Original plans called for the third rail to guide the car, but the company experienced many electrical problems along its power lines. By the time the third rail was functioning properly, two hundred and fifty utility poles had burned to the ground due to faulty insulators. A final inspection took place on August 21 from Wheaton to Elmhurst. Although problems with the utility poles were noted, the inspection was otherwise considered a success. For the next three days, engineers tested the line from Aurora to Wheaton so that they would have a familiarity with the track.

The cars numbered 10 to 28 (even numbers only) were the first passenger cars of the Chicago Aurora & Elgin Railway. They were built by the Niles Car & Manufacturing Company of Niles, Ohio. Delivery of the cars was delayed, with the first six arriving on July 29, 1902. Cars 10, 12, 14, 16, 18, and 20 entered service on opening day, August 25, while the last four arrived on September 5, 1902.

EARLY SERVICE

Despite a malfunctioning power system, a group of nearly-untrained motormen, and only six pieces of operational rolling stock, the Aurora branch of the Chicago Aurora and Elgin Railroad opened on August 25, 1902. Fares were 25 cents one-way and 45 cents round-trip. Passengers who wanted to enter The Loop had to transfer to the Metropolitan West Side Elevated at 52nd Avenue for an additional five cents. Service began at 5:33am and concluded at 11:33pm, with trains running every thirty minutes. Terminals were opened to the public at 52nd Avenue, Austin Avenue (in Chicago), Oak Park, Harlem Avenue (in Forest Park), Maywood, Bellwood, Wolf Road (in Hillside), Secker Road (in Villa Park), South Elmhurst, Lombard, Glen Ellyn, College Avenue (in Wheaton), Wheaton, Gary Road (in Wheaton), Chicago Golf Grounds, Warrenville, Ferry Road (in Warrenville), Eola Junction (in Aurora), and Aurora. 

A one-way trip from Aurora to Chicago was seventy-five minutes. The final four cars from the Niles Car Company arrived on September 5 and were put into service seven days later. The original train schedules posted at stations showed service on the Batavia branch. However, actual service did not begin until the last week of September 1902. The Batavia branch met the Aurora branch at Eola Junction. Even when opened, the Batavia branch experienced little traffic and may have been primarily used as convenient transport for railroad officials to the Batavia powerhouse.

The AE&C issued promotional leaflets to citizens of Fox Valley cities and towns. They also sent these pamphlets to settlements west of Aurora, hoping that people would take a steam train to Aurora and then transfer to the electric line. They boasted that the AE&C was the "finest electric railroad in the world." By the end of the year, the AE&C was seeing monthly earnings in excess of $16,500. In addition, the nearby Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad had a dramatic decrease of passengers between Aurora and Chicago.

The twenty cars from Stephenson arrived in December 1902. Fifteen cars were equipped with motors (even numbers 30–58) and five did not (odd numbers 101–109); these latter five cars were intended to only be used as trailing cars. Trailing cars would often be added or removed at Wheaton depending on the number of passengers. The Stephenson cars were almost identical in every respect to the Niles cars. These new cars reduced the travel time between Aurora and Chicago to one hour. The new cars also allowed the railroad to operate at faster speeds—one run from 52nd Avenue to Aurora averaged 65 miles per hour.

Service to Elgin began on May 26, 1903. The 17.5-mile branch split off from the main line at Wheaton, and allowed trains from Chicago to reach the Fox Valley city in sixty-five minutes. When opened, the AE&C was able to change its schedules to allow trains to leave 52nd Avenue every fifteen minutes, alternating between Aurora and Elgin. All trains at this point ran locally, stopping at every station. The AE&C briefly considered expanding to Mendota in late 1903, but determined that it was not worth the financial risk. Though cars primarily carried passengers, some early morning cars carried light freight. Notably, the AE&C reached a deal with the Chicago Record Herald in October 1903 to distribute the paper to the suburbs along the line.

Car #300 and a follower are at Aurora on an unused postcard circa 1907, giving a good example of the original configuration. They began with window guards, a small destination sign beneath motorman’s window, vertical bar pilot, and arched upper sash.

By 1910, the railroad had added a branch from near Wheaton to Geneva and St. Charles. Most of the interurban's lines used a third rail for power collection, which was relatively unusual for interurban railroads. While third rail had become the standard for urban elevated railroad and subway systems, most interurban railroads used trolley poles to pick up power from overhead wire; the AE&C only used trolley wire where necessary, such as in the few locations where the interurban had street running.

Originally, the railroad's Chicago terminus was the 52nd Avenue station that it shared with the Garfield Park elevated railroad line of the Metropolitan West Side Elevated Railroad, and where passengers transferred between interurban and elevated trains. Beginning on March 11, 1905, the interurban began operating over the Metropolitan's "L" tracks, allowing AE&C trains to directly serve downtown Chicago. At the same time, the Metropolitan's Garfield Park service was extended west of 52nd Avenue, replacing the AE&C as the provider of local service over the interurban's surface-level trackage as far west as Desplaines Avenue in Forest Park. The interurban's trains terminated at the stub-ended Wells Street Terminal, adjacent to the Loop elevated. The interurban continued to use the "L" tracks through the years of Chicago Rapid Transit Company (CRT) ownership and into the Chicago Transit Authority (CTA) era.

THE CHICAGO AURORA & ELGIN RAILROAD

World War I was tough for the AE&C, and the railroad entered bankruptcy in 1919. Having shed the Fox River Lines (an interurban which paralleled the Fox River), the reorganized company emerged from bankruptcy as the Chicago Aurora and Elgin Railroad on July 1, 1922, under the management of Dr. Thomas Conway, Jr..

A branch from Bellwood to Westchester was built in the 1920s. CRT's elevated train service was extended onto the branch in 1926; the "L" company was the sole provider of passenger service on the branch and this new service replaced the CA&E's own local service on its main line east of Bellwood.

Utilities magnate Samuel Insull gained control of the CA&E in 1926. Insull and his corporate interests had already taken over and improved the properties of the North Shore and South Shore Lines.

In the 1930s, the Chicago Aurora & Elgin borrowed a number of wooden interurban cars from the neighboring North Shore Line. While on the CA&E, these cars generally only operated with each other and are commonly referred to as the “North Shore Woods.” The group name implies a single set of cars, however this group was actually an amalgamation of three series of cars from the North Shore Line.

Insull's plans to make similar improvements to the CA&E were scrapped as the result of the Great Depression. With the collapse of his utilities empire, Insull was forced to sell his interest in the CA&E, and the railroad was once again bankrupt by 1932. The line connecting West Chicago with Geneva and St. Charles was abandoned in 1937.

1934 CA&E MAP - CLICK TO SEE JUMBO SIZE MAP

POST WORLD WAR II DECLINE

The railroad was unable to exit from bankruptcy until 1946. Even though the railroad suffered from low revenue, high debt, and shortage of capital, wartime revenues and hopes for a stronger customer base in the growing west suburban region led the railroad to undertake an improvement of its service.

The interiors featured steel tubular seating upholstered in apricot, brown, capucine, coral, red, and scarlet mohair.5 Each car contained a smoking section, however, unlike previous series, only half of the cars were equipped with toilets. Cars 451-455 were fitted with lavatories, while 456-460 used this space for additional seating. The exteriors featured arched roofs, which stood in stark contrast to the railroad roofs present on everything else on the railroad except for the former WB&A cars.

The railroad made substantial improvements to its physical plant and acquired ten new all-steel passenger cars in 1946 and made plans for eight more, with the intention of retiring the oldest wooden cars that had been on the railroad's roster from its earliest years.

1945 CA&E MAP - CLICK TO SEE JUMBO SIZE MAP

However, the postwar years saw increasing shifts of passengers away from rail traffic and into automobiles, and then the CA&E found the rug pulled from beneath the railroad. The plans for construction of the Congress Street Expressway (now known as the Eisenhower Expressway) in the early 1950s not only loomed as a source of further drain on CA&E traffic, but the right-of-way of the new highway necessitated the demolition of the CTA's Garfield Park elevated line, which the CA&E depended upon to reach its downtown terminus.

The expressway's construction plans provided a dedicated right-of-way for trains in the highway's median strip. However, during the estimated five years to complete the superhighway, both "L" and interurban trains would need to use a temporary street-level right-of-way. When the plans circulated in 1951, CA&E objected to the arrangement, citing the effects on running time and scheduling of its trains as they negotiated the streets of Chicago's busy West Side at rush hour. The railroad estimated that the delays would cost the railroad nearly a million dollars a year, to say nothing of the long-term effects of the new superhighway on the railroad's revenue. Another long-term concern was the railroad's downtown terminal; the new median strip line would have no access to Wells Street Terminal.

CA&E #453 Westbound at Berkeley, Illinois on July 1, 1951 - The 453 was sold to the Trolleyville Museum in Olmsted Falls, Ohio in 1962 where it was used sporadically on their demonstration railway. The Trolleyville Museum folded in 2005 and the collection was transferred to the Lake Shore Electric Railway in 2006.  The Lake Shore Electric Railway had plans for a heritage trolley operation along the Cleveland, Ohio waterfront. However these plans did not come to fruition and the Lake Shore Electric Railway was broken up in 2009. The 453 was purchased by the Electric City Trolley Museum Association during the liquidation and moved to Scranton, Pennsylvania for eventual restoration and operation.

As a compromise, the railroad gained approval to cut back its service to the Desplaines Avenue station in Forest Park — the westernmost terminus of CTA Garfield Park service, after the CTA ended its unprofitable elevated train service on the CA&E's Westchester line in 1951. At the new Forest Park terminal, riders would transfer from the CA&E interurban to a CTA train to complete their commute into the city. This terminal consisted of two loop tracks (one for CA&E and one for CTA) where passengers could make a cross-platform transfer between the interurban and trains of the CTA operating over the temporary street-level trackage — and presumably the eventual new median strip Congress line. Unfortunately, with the change being put into effect on September 20, 1953, CA&E riders lost their one-seat ride to downtown Chicago. Within a few months of the cutback, half of the line's passengers abandoned it in favor of the parallel commuter service provided by the Chicago and North Western Railroad — today operated by Metra as the Union Pacific/West Line.

THE END OF THE CHICAGO AURORA & ELGIN SERVICE

The loss of one-seat commuter service to the Loop devastated the interurban. The railroad's financial condition was already shaky, and schemes to restore downtown service faced various legal or operational obstacles. As early as 1952, the railroad had sought to substitute buses for the trains, and after years of financial losses, in April 1957 the Illinois Commerce Commission authorized the railroad to discontinue passenger service. Passenger groups and affected municipalities sought injunctions that forced the railroad to temporarily continue service, but as soon as court rulings cleared the way, management abruptly ended passenger service, at noon on July 3, 1957. 

Commuters who had ridden the CA&E into the city found themselves stranded when they returned to take the train home. Freight operations continued for two more years, until they too ended on June 10, 1959. No trains ran after this point, but the right-of-way and rolling stock were preserved in the event that a party stepped forward to purchase the property. The official abandonment of the Chicago, Aurora & Elgin came at 5:00pm on July 6, 1961, just over four years after the final passenger trains had run. The real estate became part of the Aurora Corporation of Illinois, a small conglomerate, which slowly sold off the right-of-way and other properties. Portions of the right-of-way are now operated as a multi-use trail called the Illinois Prairie Path.

Compiled by Neil Gale, Ph.D.

---

CHRONOLOGY OF THE CHICAGO AURORA & ELGIN RAILROAD

1899 

February 24, 1899 – The Aurora and Chicago Railway Company and the Elgin and Chicago Railway Company are incorporated by the Everett-Moore syndicate

February 25, 1899 – The Chicago, Wheaton and Aurora Railroad Company is incorporated by the competing Pomeroy-Mandelbaum syndicate

March 11, 1899 – The Aurora, Wheaton and Chicago Railway Company is incorporated (Everett-Moore syndicate)

October 2, 1899 – The City of Aurora grants the AW&C a franchise

1900 

March 24, 1900 – President Lewis of the Cicero Board of Trustees vetoes the ordinance granting the Aurora, Wheaton & Chicago a franchise

March 31, 1900 – The Cicero Township grants the Aurora, Wheaton & Chicago a fifty-year franchise

April 12, 1900 – The Village of Harlem [Forest Park] grants the Aurora, Wheaton & Chicago a fifty-year franchise

August 23, 1900 – The City of Elgin grants the Elgin and Chicago Railway a fifty-year franchise

February 21, 1901 – The Batavia & Eastern Railway Company is incorporated (Everett-Moore syndicate)

March 12, 1901 – Second annual meeting of the Aurora, Wheaton & Chicago. Stockholders change the corporate name from the Aurora, Wheaton & Chicago Railway Company to the 

Aurora, Elgin & Chicago Railway Company (AE&C).

May 16, 1902 – The first inspection trip is held

May 17, 1902 – The Batavia Powerhouse boilers are lit for the first time. Certain imperfections come to light and are remedied.

June 23, 1902 – The Chicago City council passes an ordinance allowing the Metropolitan West Side Elevated to construct a terminal at Van Buren Street and Fifth Avenue

July 29, 1902 – The first six cars are delivered from the Niles Car & Manufacturing Company

August 25, 1902 – The Aurora, Elgin and Chicago Railway begins regular service from 

Aurora to 52nd Avenue (Laramie) in Chicago. Passengers are required to transfer to Garfield Park trains of the Metropolitan West Side Elevated to reach downtown Chicago.

Late September 1902 – Service begins on the Batavia branch

May 29, 1903 – The Elgin branch is placed into service

August 30, 1904 – Parlor-buffet service begins

October 3, 1904 – The Metropolitan Elevated opens the Fifth Avenue [Wells Street] Terminal

February 9, 1905 – The Metropolitan asks for the passage of an ordinance permitting AE&C trains to operate over the “L” to the Fifth Avenue Terminal and the Metropolitan to operate over the tracks of the AE&C to the Desplaines River

March 11, 1905 – The AE&C ends local service between Forest Park and 52nd Avenue and begins operating to downtown Chicago over the Metropolitan West Side Elevated. The Metropolitan extends Garfield Park rapid transit service west from 52nd Avenue to Forest Park.

June 19, 1905 – The Metropolitan West Side Elevated inaugurates funeral car service to Concordia and Waldheim cemeteries

November 23, 1905 – The Cook County and Southern Railroad is incorporated

March 18, 1906 – The Cook County and Southern Railroad enters service

March 26, 1906 – The Elgin, Aurora and Southern Traction Company (the Fox River Lines) and the Aurora, Elgin and Chicago Railway (the Great Third Rail) are formally consolidated into the Aurora, Elgin and Chicago Railroad

June 4, 1906 – The Joint Funeral Bureau—connecting the AE&C and the Metropolitan “L”—is created

August 27, 1908 – The Chicago, Wheaton and Western Railway is incorporated

February 15, 1909 – The City of Geneva grants the Chicago, Wheaton and Western a fifty-year franchise

September 21, 1909 – The Chicago, Wheaton and Western Railway begins service with AE&C third rail equipment over what would later be known as the Geneva branch. Trains only operate as far as West Chicago

December 1, 1909 – The Chicago, Wheaton & Western extends service to Geneva

1910 

August 25, 1910 – The Chicago, Wheaton & Western extends service to St. Charles

October 28, 1910 – The Chicago, Wheaton & Western Railway is deeded to the Aurora, Elgin & Chicago Railroad

March, 24, 1913 – Fire destroys the general offices in Wheaton

September 14, 1915 – New Aurora Terminal opens in the Hotel Arthur building

July 30, 1919 – Employees strike

August 9, 1919 – The AE&C is forced into involuntary bankruptcy. Joseph K. Choate is named receiver.

August 21, 1919 – Strike ends

November 11, 1919 – Judge Evans grants the Northern Trust Company permission to file a bill of foreclosure against the AE&C

1920 

March 28, 1920 – The Elgin terminal is destroyed by a tornado

March 16, 1922 – R. M. Stinson and Thomas Conway Jr. purchase the AE&C's Third Rail Division

July 1, 1922 – The Third Rail Division of the Aurora Elgin & Chicago Railroad is reorganized as the Chicago Aurora & Elgin Railroad (CA&E)

May 24, 1924 – The Western Motor Coach Company is incorporated

July 15, 1925 – Chicago Westchester & Western Railroad is incorporated

March 4, 1926 – Samuel Insull assumes control of the CA&E

October 1, 1926 – The CRT begins rapid transit service on the Westchester Branch. The CA&E ends local service between Forest Park and Bellwood

October 31, 1926 – The CA&E ends passenger service on the Mt. Carmel (Cook County) Branch due to close proximity to the new Westchester service

November 1, 1926 – CA&E begins motor coach service connecting Mt. Carmel Cemetery with the Westchester “L” station

January 1, 1927 – The 420 series are cars ordered from the Cincinnati Car Company

August 1, 1927 – CA&E trains begin stopping at Canal on the “L” for connections to Union Station

October 29, 1929 – The stock market crashes

November 23, 1929 – Grand opening of the new Villa Park station

1930 

December 1, 1930 – The Westchester branch is extended from Roosevelt to 22nd & Mannheim

April 1931 – The Transfer bridge connecting the Wells Street Terminal and the Quincy “L” station opens

November 28, 1931 – Dedication of new Poplar Avenue station

February 20, 1932 – The Joint Funeral Bureau is terminated

June 7, 1932 – Samuel Insull resigns from CA&E Board of Directors

July 21, 1932 – The CA&E enters receivership

July 13, 1934 – Last recorded funeral charter operated

March 30, 1935 – The Aurora, Elgin & Fox River Electric operates its last electric trolleys

October 31, 1937 – Last regular trains operate over Geneva Branch

December 31, 1939 – Final Aurora Terminal opens

1940 

November 28, 1941 – 450 series cars ordered from the St. Louis Car Company

December 7, 1941 – Bombing of Pearl Harbor by the Japanese

April 7, 1942 – 1905 agreement allowing the Aurora & Elgin use of the “L” to gain access to Chicago expires. No new agreement written since both companies (CRT and CA&E) in receivership. Operations continue without formal agreement.

November 10, 1944 – Employees strike

October 3, 1945 – First three 450 series cars arrive

December 10, 1945 – 450 series cars enter revenue service

June 28, 1946 – The Chicago Aurora & Elgin Railway Company and the Chicago Aurora & Elgin Real Estate Liquidating Corporation are incorporated

October 1, 1946 – Chicago Aurora & Elgin Railway Company assumes operation of the 

Chicago Aurora & Elgin Railroad. Employees strike.

October 16, 1946 – Strike ends

October 1, 1947 – The newly formed Chicago Transit Authority (CTA) assumes control of the rapid transit system

1950 

January 29, 1951 – Employees strike

March 10, 1951 – Strike ends

October 8, 1951 – CTA board votes to replace Westchester “L” service with buses

November 15, 1951 – The Illinois Commerce Commission refuses the CA&E’s petetion against the Van Buren street-level relocation

December 9, 1951 – CTA ends service on the Westchester branch and instates AB skip-stop service on the Garfield route. The CA&E resumes local service between Bellwood and Forest Park.

June 25, 1953 – Construction begins on new transfer station at Forest Park

September 20, 1953 – The CA&E ceases operations to the Wells Street Terminal and begins terminating trains at Desplaines in Forest Park. Service over the Batavia branch is reduced to Monday-Friday rush hours only. St. Charles/Geneva motor coach service is extended to Batavia at all other times.

July 3, 1957 – The CA&E ceases all passenger service at 12:13 PM

March 6, 1958 – The Mass Transit Special is held

June 22, 1958 – Congress rapid transit line begins operating in the median of the new superhighway

April 29, 1959 – CA&E files a petition with the Illinois Commerce Commission to abandon freight service

June 9, 1959 – Illinois Commerce Commission authorizes the CA&E to suspend freight service the next day

June 10, 1959 – Freight service is “suspended”

1960 

July 6, 1961 – CA&E is officially abandoned at 5:00 PM

1967 – Poplar station is burned down

1970 

July 5, 1976 – Villa Park and Ardmore stations are dedicated by the Villa Park Bicentennial Commission

1979 – Undeveloped sections of CA&E right-of-way in Berkeley, Hillside, Bellwood, and Maywood are added to the Illinois Prairie Path

1980 N/A

1990 

October 1991 – Aurora Terminal platform is demolished

1996 – The Geneva Spur (following and using portions of the Geneva branch right-of-way) is added to the Illinois Prairie Path

2000 

March 2003 – Warrenvile station is demolished

Lost Towns of Illinois - The Goshen Settlement.

In the beginning, there was Peters Station to the west of today's Glen Carbon, Illinois, Mont Station to the east and the original Goshen Settlement.

The Goshen Settlement was an early American pioneer settlement in what at the time was in the Indiana Territory. The settlement was located about one mile southwest of modern Glen Carbon, Illinois, at the point where Judy's Creek emerges from the bluffs into the American Bottom, on its way to the Mississippi River.

In 1799, David Bagley, a Virginia Baptist minister passed through the area and determined that it was a land of such expanse and luxuriant vegetation, rivers open prairie land that he compared it to the Biblical Land of Goshen. It was, in truth, a land of promise; and some years after, it was the largest, and best settlement in Illinois' portion of the Indiana Territory. References to the "Land of Goshen" have persisted since that time.

Samuel Judy became a colonel in the Illinois Militia taking part in expeditions against the Indians.

In 1801, Colonel Samuel Judy received a military grant of 100 acres near the base of the bluffs, just north of what was known as Judy's Creek. Squatter Ephraim Connor built a cabin on this land. Judy and Connor agreed on a fair price for the land and the cabin. Therefore, Col. Judy became the first permanent settler, not only of the Goshen Settlement but also what would become Madison County, making Col Judy the first permanent settler of what would become Madison County. 

The area became known as the Goshen Settlement. While its boundaries were never clearly defined, it was centered on Col. Judy's property at the junction of Judy's Creek and present-day Illinois Route 157.

In 1808, still in the Indiana Territory, the Goshen Road was built as a wagon road across Illinois, from the Goshen Settlement to the salt works near Shawneetown, Illinois. The trail crossed the state diagonally following a route from Peter's Station to the north and west of Glen Carbon, east to Troy, and then in a southeasterly direction, eventually ending at Shawneetown on the Ohio River. 

The area became a part of the Illinois Territory in 1809. Fort Russell (named after Col. William Russell), established on the Goshen Settlement land by Governor Edwards early in 1812 in the Illinois Territory. The exact location of Fort Russell in not known, but many details have survived time.

In 1814-1815, Col. Judy served in the Illinois Territorial Council of the Illinois Territorial Legislature. He also served as county commissioner for Madison County, Illinois. Col. Samuel Judy was a slave owner. There are bills of sale in the Madison County Recorder's Office recording his purchase of slaves in 1816.

Goshen Township was established after Madison County was created in 1812. Sometime between 1820 and 1830 Goshen township was divided into five smaller townships; Edwardsville, Silver Creek, Big Prairie, Six-Mile Prairie, and Wood River.

The Goshen Settlement was renamed to the Village of Glen Carbon to reflect its coal mining heritage. Glen Carbon was then incorporated as an Illinois village in 1892. Two depots for the railroad were erected, one running east and west and the second running north and south. People wishing to travel to Saint Louis, found it quite easy to do by boarding the Illinois Central and Clover Leaf railroads, as they made several trips a day to Saint Louis and back.  Rail travel was equally important to the businesses and mining company; as it was the easiest and most significant way to carry coal and other goods to various locations.  Main Street was a bustling mercantile center with various merchants, slaughterhouses, saloons and restaurants.  And in 1898 our first volunteer fire department was created.

It operated many coal mines until the last one shut down in 1934.

Today, the existing Goshen Road running from Route 159 to the intersection of Route 143, south of Edwardsville, is part of the original road. The Goshen Settlement is mostly remembered by a line of short road segments named "Goshen Road", across Illinois, and many places named "Goshen" that was once adjacent to this long lost road to a long lost place. These names are all the more confusing because the modern towns of Goshen, Illinois, and Goshen, Indiana are nowhere close to the old settlement. 

Compiled by Neil Gale, Ph.D.

The Yanda Log Cabin, Glen Carbon, Illinois.

The Yanda Log Cabin is believed to have been built by blacksmith William Yanda in 1853.

William Yanda (1818-1885) and his wife Anna Zeola (1823-1901) were immigrants from Bohemia, Austria. They and their ten children lived in the cabin. Their oldest son, Frank (1846-1912), also became a blacksmith. 

He practiced his craft in other towns and eventually returned to the log cabin 1882 with his wife, Anna Benda (1845-1912). Frank and Anna raised eleven children in the cabin. 

Frank sold the cabin to his son Frank Jr., who was one of the early mayors of the Village of Glen Carbon. Frank Jr. did not have any children. Several descendants of the Yandas' lived in the cabin before it was eventually sold.

James Harry Lister, originally from England, named the village in 1892 when a post office was established. Lister was one of the first village trustees and a specialist in opening mines and installing mining equipment. Lister called the village "Carbon Glen," which means Coal Valley. Reportedly, his daughter said it sounded better when you reversed the words to Glen Carbon.

By the time it was sold, the cabin had undergone many modernization, and it was considered just an ordinary house. The plan was to use the house as a practice burn by the Village Fire Department. 

When the vinyl siding was removed to do so, the historic log cabin was discovered underneath! All plans for burning it were halted. The Village of Glen Carbon bought the lot with the existing house built around the cabin in 1989. 

Renovation began that same year and concluded just in time for the Village's Centennial Celebration in June 1992. The cabin now serves as an addition to the Glen Carbon Heritage Museum, a reminder of the past before Glen Carbon was incorporated.

Compiled by Dr. Neil Gale, Ph.D.

South Shore State Bank and Real Estate Rental Office, Chicago, Illinois. (ca 1920)

South Shore State Bank and Real Estate Rental Office at the Northeast corner of 75th Street and Exchange, Chicago, Illinois. (circa 1920)

The Bank location became the Stratoliner Lounge. The small movie theater at the right was the Windsor Park Theater. It later became the Ray Theater, then the Ray Ballroom. 

Irving Park Country Club, 1281 W. Irving Park Boulevard, Chicago, Illinois. 1907

Irving Park Country Club, 1281 West Irving Park Boulevard, Chicago, Illinois. 1907

The Brennan Family of Chicago, Illinois. Easter Photos (1947-2013)

Showing off Easter finery has been a Chicago tradition for decades. From 1947 to 1967, Thomas and Theresa Brennan each year sewed matching Easter outfits for themselves and their 11 children. 

The family, who lived on the Near West Side and then Oak Park, became quite famous, receiving letters from around the world. 

AN EASTER TRADITION
Every year, the Brennan's paraded their children — all 11 of them —in matching homemade outfits.

Easter was a very special event in the Brennan household. It meant celebrating the holiday and spending time with the family and even a rare trip to a restaurant. It also meant dressing alike.

You see, for two decades starting in the late 1940s, Thomas Brennan, with help from wife Theresa, made the matching Easter outfits the family wore each year.

That meant a suit for Thomas and a dress for Theresa. And dresses for their girls, Aine, Brigid, Rosaleen, Kathleen, and Margaret. And suits for the boys, Thomas Jr., Patrick, Michael, Brian, Sean, and Seamus. Yes, you counted correctly: 11 children.

"My father was extremely proud of his family and devoted to the utmost," said Seamus Brennan, of Riverside, last week. "He was a phenomenally industrious gentleman. ... He was something of a Renaissance man. He could play the piano a little bit. He could play the violin. He was an awesome accordion player. He used to write little plays and skits."

All of this, of course, while he wasn't working at the heating and fuel oil business he owned and operated by himself. "He worked hard," said Seamus, 60, the youngest of the children. "He was out in the cold. He was in damp basements."

His father became a master tailor, Seamus said, after catching the bug from his wife, who like many mothers of large families wasn't a stranger to a needle and thread. But then he took it to the next level, Seamus said, crafting clothing in a new theme each year that became quite extravagant, like in 1961, when in honor of the new Irish-Catholic president, the family was decked out like the Kennedys, with the boys in dark suits and top hats and the girls looking like younger Jackies.

Each year, the family made the Easter pilgrimage to Michigan Avenue to join thousands of others parading in their finery, and their photograph became a Tribune tradition itself. The newspaper's readers got to see the children grow up.

"My father was proud as can be of that Easter tradition," Seamus said, adding that they received newspaper clippings from as far away as Germany and Japan. As a kid growing up, he said, he was excited to see their photo in the newspaper.

The Brennans' made their debut in 1947 in a back-page photograph showing the five girls and a young Thomas Jr. The next year there were seven children, one in mom's arms. The family, living on the Near West Side, then in Oak Park, became famous, traveling to New York City in 1957 to appear on the game show "I've Got a Secret."

In 1979, Michael, the third son, reminisced: "Easter Sunday for me was the greatest time of my childhood. It was a time when the whole family would all get to go downtown, dressed in new clothes, new shoes, new haircuts. We'd even get to eat in restaurants."

While the Brennans' traditional family gathering has shifted to Thanksgiving, all 11 siblings haven't been together since Theresa died in 1991. And it has been even longer since they've assembled on Easter — making a reunion in Riverside particularly special in 2013.

"There's always some gathering for Easter," Seamus said. "It just happens that for this one the stars are lining up."

Chicago Tribune - March 31, 2013.

Presented by Dr. Neil Gale, Ph.D.

Lost Towns of Illinois - Mormon Town, Illinois

Although the Mormon experience is much more extensive in the Illinois counties to the north, there is some history of Mormon activity in Pike County, Illinois.

When the Mormons were driven from Missouri during the winter of 1839-1840 they temporarily made a settlement they called Mormon Town (or Mormontown), two miles east of Pittsfield, Illinois. The town grew to have as many as 300 voters by 1845 but as the troubles grew at Nauvoo, Illinois to the north, Mormon Town was abandoned and no trace of it remains today. 

On February 22, 1839, members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, refugees were driven from Missouri under the "extermination Order" of Governor Lilburn Boggs, settled on this site. The property was owned by Thomas Edwards, who later joined the church. Silas Smith, high priest in the church and uncle of Mormon prophet Joseph Smith, was the leader of these Mormon refugees. The community grew to more than 300 members. Silas Smith died on September 13, 1839, at the age of 58 and was buried here near his home. Smith was succeeded by John Lawton and later by Harlow Redfield, who presided over the congregation until it disbanded in 1845.

In October 1842, Brigham Young and Heber C. Kimball preached at a church conference held here. The settlement extended on both sides of the road at this location. Cabins were built and wells dug. A schoolhouse and a church were erected on the south side of the road. The cemetery, which measured 60 by 80 feet, fell into disrepair in later years. Gravestones were bulldozed into a ditch and the graveyard plowed over. The church building was relocated to Pittsfield and used as a parish hall by St. Mary's Catholic Church. The pews and pulpit were moved to a church near Pleasant Hill, Illinois. 

Compiled by Dr. Neil Gale, Ph.D.

The Mystery of the Waubansee Stone of Chicago.

One of North America's most fascinating and obscure artifacts is tucked away in a Chicago museum.

The mysterious Waubansee Stone is a glacial rock first mentioned in records from the first Fort Dearborn (1803-1812). This carved rock is speculated to predate European settlers to the Americas or could have been carved by a soldier at the fort.

The Waubansee Stone is a huge, glacial, erratic granite boulder with a larger-than-life head sculpted upon its upper surface. The expertly fashioned relief carving shows the face of a man with a chin beard, depicted with his mouth open and eyes closed. On the top of the stone, just above the head, is a large drop-shaped bowl that once emptied through the head and out of the mouth, over the lower lip, to another drainage spout below the man's goatee. There are also two connecting holes on either side of the boulder, presumably used as a line anchorage for a sea vessel. 

All holes and drainage spouts are plugged with putty or other additions, suggesting no interest in a modern restoration. The mysterious face carving and associated cavities have given rise to speculation about its origins, including one theory that the stone was carved by prehistoric Mediterranean seafarers who used the 3,000-pound  boulder as a mooring stone.

A closer view of the face carved on the Waubansee Stone shows the hole in the mouth where the liquid was designed to flow from the bowl on top.

Originally standing around 8 feet in height, the Waubansee Stone is mentioned in the first Fort Dearborn accounts as being located just beyond the stockade walls, along the shore of the Chicago River. Chicagoua (or Chicagou) was a local Indian word for the native garlic plant Allium Tricoccum, not an onion plant, that grew profusely along the banks of the Chicago River. 

When the first fort was built in 1803, the Potawatomi Indians of southern Lake Michigan had traded with white people for over a century. Still, they were becoming increasingly hostile to the number of new settlers coming into the region and staking a claim on their land. President Jefferson was very interested in the Indiana Territory (including Illinois lands from 1800-1809) and was anxious about its security. 

He felt an American military outpost should be established to protect the new frontier. He selected the mouth of the Chicago River as the site for a new fort. At that time, several fur traders and their Indian wives lived in the region. The fort was named after General Henry Dearborn, Secretary of War. It was built on the south side of the Chicago River where Michigan Avenue now crosses at Wacker Drive. 

Skirmishes with the Potawatomi were on the rise, reaching a crescendo in 1812 when settlers and soldiers were massacred at the first Fort Dearborn (1803-1812), which was burned to the ground by the enraged Indians. 

The second Fort Dearborn was rebuilt in 1816-1817, and the Waubansee Stone was presumably reduced in size to be dragged into the fort's parade grounds, remaining until the fort was dismantled. After that, the stone passed from collector to collector until it found a permanent home at the Fort Dearborn exhibit at the Chicago Historical Society.

The Waubansee Stone on display in the Fort Dearborn
exhibit at the Chicago Historical Society.

Historian Henry H. Hurlbut (1813-1890) developed the generally accepted theory about the stone's origin in 1881, unsupported by any records or documentation. His belief, admittedly based on no evidence, is that the stone was carved in the early 1800s by an unnamed soldier stationed at the original Fort Dearborn. Its face was supposedly fashioned after a friendly Native American Potawatomi Chieftain named Wabansee[1], and this appointed name stuck. 

Hurlbut had only hearsay on which to base his observations, including the presumption that the Indians used the upper recess as a mortar to grind their corn. This accepted explanation has come under fire from several angles. For starters, the recess was intentionally plugged after the Indians supposedly used it, so it would have been an ineffective mortar because the corn would have drained through the mouth. Also, why would a frontier soldier, who was probably suspicious of the Potawatomi in the first place, spend many months carving the likeness of their tribal leader? Aside from the fact that granite is one of the hardest stones to sculpt, the face is clearly the work of a master stone-cutter who must have devoted a considerable amount of time and labor to the job—hardly in keeping with the strenuous daily tasks of a typical frontier soldier. Finally, Native Americans were not known to have grown goatees, nor did they ever carve in granite. But if not Hurlbut's anonymous soldier or an Indian sculptor, who crafted the mysterious features on the Waubansee Stone?

With more source material than Hurlbut had at his disposal, yet with an uncertain date and a possible grisly usage, fragments of evidence can be pieced together using various historians to arrive near the truth. 

An article in the Chicago Tribune dated September 22, 1903, clearly illustrates the two opposing viewpoints clashing over the stone's origin:

“The second school of historians and antiquarians is convinced that the so-called Waubansee Stone dates back hundreds and perhaps even thousands of years before even Father Marquette first visited the site of Chicago in 1673. They see in the tall boulder, with its deeply top, a sacrificial altar on which perhaps the mound builders of prehistoric America offered even human sacrifices, and they are ready to believe that the face carved on one side of the stone is a representation of an ancient idol—one of the far off gods to whom that mythical people poured libations and offered the sacrificial blood of animals. However that may be, there is no question of doubt that in the early days of Fort Dearborn, as far back as we have any record, that identical stone, practically the same as it is today, lay near the stockade of old Fort Dearborn.”

The diffusionist theory of the Waubansee Stone describes it as a sacrificial altar for ancient Celtic and Phoenician traders in the millennium before Christ.

All historians agree that the Mississippian Culture performed animal and human sacrifices high atop their platform mounds, but where this practice originated is unknown. The Aztec or Toltec people from Mexico may have influenced them, or perhaps an earlier seafaring people notorious for infant sacrifices were responsible. It is well known that the Phoenicians (and their Celtic allies) traveled across the ocean to "the Farthest Land" known as Antilla. The precise location of Antilla was a closely guarded secret because it contained the most valuable commodity to the Bronze Age people—copper. 

Michigan's Upper Peninsula is the world's richest natural deposit of pure copper. It may seem a long way to go for the metal, but in the Bronze Age, copper was more prized than gold or silver since it was the primary alloy used in weapon and tool production. With profit as a clear motive for their journey, it makes sense that the Phoenicians would travel far to export copper. It also makes sense that the Phoenicians would spread their religious practices with their voyages. An integral element of the Phoenician religion was infant sacrifice to appease pagan gods and win favor for whatever activity was at hand. At the height of Phoenician power—lasting a thousand years from 1,200 BCE until the Second Punic War—babies were taken to an outdoor sacred site called a Tophet, where a young child was placed in a carved depression on an altar and had its' throat slit. 

Both the Celts and Phoenicians were known to sacrifice the infant children of their enemies or barter with their trading partners to acquire a baby for this heinous ritual. In the case of the Waubansee Stone, the sacrificial blood would flow through the sculpture into the Chicago River as an offering to the water gods, thus ensuring a safe passage. The stone's hideous purpose is evident in the closed eyes, an unusual style elsewhere but recurring in surviving Phoenician art used for infant sacrifices. Moreover, the face depicts a chin beard, a personal grooming style of male Phoenicians. 

The mouth of the Chicago River was a necessary transition stop before entering the narrow river network leading into the Mississippi and then down to the Gulf of Mexico. Ships must be reconfigured from open water safety to narrow river defense. Oars and shields would replace conspicuous sails. After arriving at the mouth of the Chicago River, the ancient explorers may have settled briefly, sailed onward, been killed off, or possibly assimilated with the native population. There was likely a small Tophet temple at this strategic crossroad of lake and river, which thousands of years later would grow up to be the third largest city in the United States.

Compiled by Dr. Neil Gale, Ph.D.

---

[1] Waubonsie, {Wah-bahn-see} a Potawatomi Chief.

Chief Waubansee Portrait: 1848

Waubonsie (1760-1848) was a leader of the Potawatomi Native American people. His name has been spelled in a variety of ways, including Waubansee, Wah-bahn-se, Waubonsee, Waabaanizii in the contemporary Ojibwe language, and Wabanzi in the contemporary Potawatomi language (meaning "He Causes Paleness" in both languages)

Waubansee was a chief who supported the British in the War of 1812. In 1814, he signed the Treaty of Greenville, which transferred Potawatomi's allegiance to the United States. In a series of treaties signed by Waubansee, Potawatomi lands around Lake Michigan were sold.  

In 1835, Waubansee visited Washington, D.C., to sign the treaty, which sold the last tribal lands and accepted land west of the Mississippi River. During this visit, his portrait was painted by Charles Bird King (1785-1862). The Potawatomi Nation moved to Kansas in the 1840s and settled in Waubansee County, just east of Topeka. Waubansee's portrait illustrates the Native American attraction to military costume. Coats, hats, and swords were often given to prominent chiefs. Additionally, Waubansee wears a Presidential Peace Medal and large trade silver earrings.

1940s Chicago Experimental “Queen Mary” Articulated Trolley Bus History.

Chicago’s experimental “Queen Mary” articulated trolley bus was built by Twin Coach in Kent, Ohio, in 1946. She was initially built with two gasoline engines. The trolley bus was leased to the Chicago Surface Lines in 1946. 

sidebar

The Chicago Transit Authority (CTA) was created in 1945 but didn't take control until October of 1947 when the CTA took over all Rapid Transit (trains) and Surface Lines in Chicago. 

The “Queen Mary” was converted to electricity in 1948, bought by the CTA in 1954, and renumbered to 9763. She spent her entire service life on the #76 Diversey or the #77 Belmont route in Chicago.

She was retired in 1963 and is preserved at the Illinois Railway Museum in Union, Illinois.

Compiled by Dr. Neil Gale, Ph.D. 

KiddyTown Amusement Park (1950-1967) / FunTown Amusement Park (1967-1982) on 95th and Stony Island in Chicago, Illinois.

Funtown Amusement Park at 1711 E. 95th Street at Stony Island Avenue in Chicago, Illinois, started life in 1950 as "KiddyTown." 

KiddyTown Amusement Park, like so many other "Kiddieland" Parks of that time, had a Fire Truck used to pick up kids from their homes and take them to the birthday parties at the park. The Fire Truck was also used as a ride, driving kids around the park.

This is an ad for Bowman Dairy Company for customers to save 4 Bowman bottle caps or carton tops, which entitles you to a 4-ride ticket for 25¢, except Sundays and holidays at the following parks; Fun Fair in Skokie; Kiddytown 95th & Stony Island, Chicago; Fairyland in Lyons; Lincoln Park Zoo in Chicago; Kiddytown, Harlem and Irving Park Road, Chicago; and Sauzer’s Kiddyland in Dyer, Indiana. —Chicago Tribune May 15, 1956.

New owners, Allen and June Carvell bought KiddyTown Amusement Park in 1967 and ran that operation until they sold it in 1977. When the Carvell's bought KiddyTown in 1967 they changed the name of the park to Funtown Amusement Park.

KiddyTown originally charged a gate admission where all rides were free once inside. When the Carvell's bought the park they changed a single admission charge to the park to a ticket-per-ride system.

Funtown had some great rides like the Santa Fe miniature train, Mad Mouse roller coaster, the Trabant (Google it), the Moon Rocket, a Merry-Go-Round, a small Ferris wheel, the Rock-O-Planes, the Paratrooper, the Round-Up, the Octopus, Swinging Gym, and hand-cranked rail cars. 

They claimed to have the fastest Go Carts in the Chicago area. 

In the summer of 1977, Jack Johnson bought the park. Jack was a carnival guy who attempted to run the park like a moving carnival. As stated by a park manager who worked there from 1975 to 1982, owner Jack Johnson pilfered what he could from the park and chased customers, employees and managers away by mistreating them.

When Great America in Gurnee, Illinois opening in 1976, it was a contributing factor to the park's slow death. Jack Johnson sold the park around 1980 to another carnival owner, Bob Johnson (Big 'J' Funtown). Finally, in the fall of 1982, the rides were auctioned off and the land sold. 

The Funtown Jingle went like this: "Funtown, Funtown for the kids and you, 95th and Stone-e Island Av-e-nue, Funtown!" 

Note: There is a video on Youtube that is titled "FunTown (95th & Stony Island Ave.) DaMadMouseGroov"  

This is NOT footage from Chicago's Funtown. At the 2:42 minute mark, It states "Although we tried to find actual footage of FunTown Amusement Park... none could be found." 

THE CARVELL'S - OWNERS FROM 1967-77
Funtown Amusement Park at 95th and Stony Island was owned by Allan Carvell Jr. and his wife June Marie Carvell of Evanston, Illinois. In 1957, June Carvell and her husband opened the Rainbo Ice Skating Arena, 4812 N. Clark Streett, Chicago, and the Rainbo Sports and Skate shop.

The rink became quite popular, drawing hundreds of people during open skate sessions. It also served as a practice arena for figure skaters and hockey players. Mrs. Carvell also helped manage tennis operations at the Lincoln Park Tennis Club, where her husband, a tennis professional, gave lessons.

NOTE:
THESE PHOTOS ARE NOT THE CHICAGO FUNTOWN AMUSEMENT PARK. 

This is the Seaside Park, New Jersey's Fun Town Pier.

This is the Fun Town that was at 11707 N. Micke Grove Road in Lodi, California.

Compiled by Dr. Neil Gale, Ph.D.