ICRR, Urbana Railroad Company, and Silver Creek Bridge

Doane House004.jpg

The Doane House in Champaign served as Champaign's ICRR terminal from 1856 until 1898 when the building burned down

The Illinois General Assembly chartered ICRR on February 10, 1851, but its first trains were not operational until 1853. Initially, ICRR had two north-south lines. The original mainline went from Cairo to Galena since Galena was the major industrial center in Illinois. The branch line diverted at Centralia and traveled northeast to Chicago, which would later become its mainline with the growth of Chicago. Upon its completion in 1856, ICRR was the longest railroad in the United States, with its 706 miles of track all contained in Illinois. It was the largest building project of its time with 10,000 workers laying track at any one time and an estimated 100,000 workers who worked on the rails over the five-year construction period.

The development and path of ICRR is inextricably woven into the history and growth of Champaign County.  Prior to the arrival of the ICRR, Champaign county was a small community with just 2,649 people in 1850.  By 1860, it grew to 14,629, a 452% increase in population in ten years, compared to just an 80% increase between 1840 and 1850.  This massive growth is attributed to the arrival of the ICRR through Champaign county in 1854 when the company extended its north-south line just west of Urbana.

According to local historian Dannell McCollum, “survey crews mapped four possible routes for the branch across Champaign County, selecting the one which ran across the open prairie two miles west of the Urbana courthouse”.  The reason for placing the line so far away from Urbana is disputed amongst various sources, but the most likely reason was economic.  The selected path was the most direct and the company was not interested in creating an indirect route to pass by a small central Illinois town like Urbana.  The placement of the line quickly led to the creation of West Urbana, which became Champaign in 1860.

HM Russell.jpg

H. M. Russell

The success and growth of West Urbana was initially to the detriment of Urbana.  With no easy access to the ICRR, Urbana may have been doomed to disappear like Conkey Town in Vermilion County.  Prior to the construction of the Urbana Railroad Company line, the only way to travel between Urbana and West Urbana was by horse-drawn carriages.  The first known of which that was offered to the public was a one-horse shay operated by “Father” McCain.  The first regulated service to make scheduled trips was a horse-drawn bus (omnibus) run by H. M. Russell and John Gere starting in 1855.  Russell and Gere’s service carried passenger gsoing either direction at a cost of 25 cents.  They also carried the mail from Urbana to West Urbana, which was then sent throughout the country through ICRR and its connections to major cities and other rail lines.

Carriages and wagons were sufficient for passenger transportation, but they were not enough to support the commercial interests of Urbana.  They also did not offer a smooth ride compared to a rail line, especially with the poor condition of roads at the time.  Road conditions also hampered the speed of the wagons and carriages.

It was a short rail line from the Urbana courthouse to the train depot in West Urbana/Champaign that served as an economic lifeline between the two cities.  By act of legislature, the town of Urbana chartered a track between Urbana and West Urbana in 1859 and immediately began construction.  The track was built eastward starting from the ICRR and the bridges and grading were completed first, so the stone arch bridge was finished by 1860.  The bridge was originally 18 feet wide and 7 ½ feet across and was constructed of hand cut random stripped Silurian stone.  

The coming of the Civil War and accompanying money crisis halted work on the line when it was about half finished.  It was only completed after generous donations of money, labor, and property from Urbana citizens.  In 1863, Urbana sawmill owner William Park, Judge Archibald Campbell, and New York capitalist Nathan Randall donated the final funding needed to complete the project under the agreement they would own the track and transportation it used.  The track was finished that year and the three investors founded the Urbana Railroad Company to run commerce and passenger cars on the track.  William Park and his son-in-law Francis Jaques took controlling interest in late 1863 and operated it until the track was rerouted in the 1890s.

JO  Cunningham.jpg

J. O. Cunningham

“This railroad, built by the means contributed by the citizens, but given to one who had the ready money to put the project in motion, was worth more than it cost to Urbana; and was, without a doubt, the means of staying and of finally defeating the agitation for the removal of the county seat.  It effectually laid the closeted ghost, which for years threatened to materialize in the destruction of the town.”

 

J.O. Cunningham, 1862

Doane House.jpg

The Doane House in Champaign. (1858)

CC Courthouse 1859-1900.jpg

Champaign County Courthouse, 1859-1900

The first run on the track was made sometime between August 15 and August 31, 1863 with a mule-drawn box car.  A one-way trip cost ten cents and took around 70 minutes with multiple stops along the path.  From either terminal to the “halfway house” at the Illinois Industrial University cost five cents.  The prices were typically set by the charter that founded the track.  The first day the line operated, the revenue was $6.35 for passengers and ten cents for freight.

Going east to west, the two-mile distance travelled by the Urbana Railroad Company horsecars started at the Champaign Court house, which was approximately near the modern-day courthouse at the intersection of Broadway and Main streets in Urbana.  From here, they travelled through a rural open prairie between Urbana and Champaign before arriving at the Doane House.  The Doane House was Champaign’s train depot from 1856 to 1898, but also served as a hotel, restaurant, post office, and meeting space. 

When the cars reached their respective terminals, they changed the horses or mules from one end of the car(s) to the other to return in the opposite direction.  According to the Turners, Ed Ireland was the driver and sat on a stool in the front exposed to the elements.  The conductor was Dan Lehman and he stood on the back of the car during trips.  Those who smoked joined Ed or Dan in the front or back.  Riders sat on lengthwise benches in the passenger cars or stood if necessary.  

Horsecar.jpg

Horsecar in operation

Horsecar at GRPM.jpg

Horsecar on Display at the Grand Rapids Public Museum

Inside a horsecar.jpg

Interior of Horsecar on Display at the Grand Rapids Public Museum

Standard horse-drawn streetcars, horsecars, or “hay burners” were typically 16’ long and held around twenty passengers; although there could be considerably more during busy periods with standing room.  The cars were light, boxy wooden vehicles framed out of oak or ash with poplar or cedar for panels and cherry for the sash and doors.  Small gas lamps were placed at each end of the car, which produced a very low level of light during the evening hours.  The cars rarely moved faster than 6mph and the passengers exited and entered through the back of the cars.  When a passenger needed to get off, the conductor pulled a rope that rang a bell near the driver. 

The men who operated the cars usually worked long hours and weeks at 15-17 hours Monday-Saturday and 14 hours on Sundays.  Horsecars were typically racially segregated with either a separate car or just standing room on the rear platform with conductor.  The horses used for the cars worked around four hours or fourteen miles on average, but most were overworked.  It took around two months for a horse to get used to the street traffic and a year to be seasoned.  Horses used for streetcars worked around four years, but there were certainly outliers who worked much longer.   

CC Courthouse 1859-1900 Map Litho.jpg

An Urbana Railroad Company Streetcar is seen here in front of the Champaign County Courthouse

The track was essential because it permitted Urbana farmers and merchants to ship their goods across the state of Illinois and beyond using ICRR.  Thousands of bushels of grain were moved over this track in cars supplied by the streetcar company.  During the busy season, regulation size box cars were brought in from ICRR and used to transport the grain.  From 1863 until 1870 the track was used for commercial purposes and general passengers looking to visit Champaign or travel on the ICRR.  With the installation of the I.B. & W. Railroad in 1870, Urbana no longer needed to rely on the Urbana Railroad Company track for commerce so it solely became a horse-drawn passenger streetcar track.

Urbana Railroad Company Cars 1869.png

Two horse-drawn cars going east on the Urbana Railroad Company track

Two historic maps of Champaign from 1869 and 1884 show the path of this line as well as the horse-drawn car(s) that were used.  The fifteen-year gap between the maps shows the development of the area along the line.  There is clear growth in housing on the Urbana side of the line going towards Champaign.  The 1869 map shows two horses pulling two cars on the track travelling east near Urbana.  The 1884 map shows two horses pulling just a single car and it is travelling east just over the stone arch bridge.

The introduction of the electric streetcar effectively ended the use of horsecars.  Electric streetcars were much more quiet, efficient, and economical, despite the expensive startup costs.  They moved faster and did not require beasts of burden, which needed constant care.  It took around nine horses to operate a car daily and they could become injured or lose a shoe during work hours (extra shoes were always carried on the cars), which stopped the cars until the horse could be remedied, replaced, or reshoed.  They also needed to be fed and kept in stables with adequate conditions. 

Aside from the care horses needed, they created problems on the streets. Horses openly defecated so the roads needed to be cleaned regularly or be a physical and olfactory nuisance.  The electric cars were also much more powerful.  Horses produced around ½ horsepower each, but an electric streetcar produced 25-50 horsepower.  The electric cars also were not negatively affected by weather or steep inclines.  For these reasons and more it was not surprising that electric streetcars went from around 16% of those used in the United States in 1890 to 99% by 1900.

Until the electric line was installed in October 1890 and the track was rerouted, the track (and thusly the Silver Creek bridge) was the main transportation access over the Boneyard.  For twenty-seven years Urbana depended on the little stone bridge to carry the weight of the city’s commerce and passengers over its arch to Champaign and the ICRR.  The bridge was considered the acme of construction in its day and its permanence is a testament to its superb design and execution.