Galena and Chicago Union Railroad

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Galena and Chicago Union Railroad
Original plan from Chicago to Galena
Overview
Localenorthern Illinois
Dates of operation1836 (chartered); 1848 (in service)–1864
SuccessorChicago and North Western
Technical
Track gauge4 ft 8+1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) standard gauge
1862 map

The Galena and Chicago Union Railroad (G&CU) was the first railroad constructed out of Chicago, intended to provide a shipping route between Chicago and the lead mines near Galena, Illinois. The railroad company was chartered on January 16, 1836,[1] but financial difficulties delayed construction until 1848.[2] While the main line never reached Galena, construction to Freeport, Illinois, allowed it to connect with the Illinois Central Railroad, thus providing an indirect route to Galena. A later route went to Clinton, Iowa.

History[edit]

Contexts[edit]

After the Erie Canal was completed in 1825, immigrants flooded into the Midwest from the East.[3] Chicago’s location, at the southwestern end of Lake Michigan with only a short portage to rivers flowing south and west, made it a strategic point for white settlers moving through—as it had been for Native peoples before them.[4] The white population in the region expanded exponentially, creating both markets and products that would need to be transported.

One particular market that had city leaders’ attention was centered in Galena, Illinois,[5] a town which was named after the most common form of lead sulphide.[6] Long mined by Native peoples and French explorers, substantial lead deposits in Illinois, Wisconsin, and Iowa became known to settlers from the East in the early 1800s.[7] St. Louis had a monopoly on shipping the lead from Galena down the Mississippi by steamboat to link to markets on the East Coast. But merchants and miners in Galena liked the idea of a quicker, more direct route to Lake Michigan, and a railroad seemed like the obvious choice.[8]

The Illinois and Michigan Canal was chartered on February 13, 1835, to provide a water route from Lake Michigan to the La Salle River and then to the Mississippi.[9] However, work on the canal didn’t officially begin until 1836, and even then various issues delayed construction,[10] so that it wasn’t completed and operable until April 1848.[11] Once completed, the canal did in fact carry significant amounts of cargo, as its successor the Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal still does.

But merchants in Galena thought a railroad would provide lower costs to transport goods more directly to and from Chicago.[12] Historian Patrick E. McLear notes that realtors on the North Side of Chicago also favored a railroad line coming into Chicago from the north, which they believed would help balance trade patterns that had so far favored areas south of the Chicago River.[13] And so the Galena and Chicago Union Railroad was chartered on January 16, 1836.

"The Pioneer," the first locomotive on the road, arrived at Chicago on October 10, 1848, nearly thirteen years after the charter was granted. In 1850, the Galena and Chicago Union Railroad was completed as far as Elgin. The railroad and the Illinois and Michigan Canal were vital in the development of Chicago, and the population of the city tripled in the six years after the opening of the canal. Eventually other railroads were built and Chicago became the largest railroad center in the world.

In 1862 the G&CU leased in perpetuity the Chicago Iowa & Nebraska and the Cedar Rapids and Missouri Railroad building westward from Clinton and Cedar Rapids in Iowa and including a bridge and ferry across the Mississippi river.[14] [15]This was to be the first railroad to reach Council Bluffs, Iowa and connect with the First transcontinental railroad which was being constructed westward by the Union Pacific Railroad in Omaha, Nebraska. The 1862 map by G. Woolworth Colton shown here lays out the various lines in operation at that time.[16] The G&CU and its leased Iowa roads consolidated with the Chicago and North Western Railway in 1864. This new consolidated railroad completed a connection without transfer from Chicago to Council Bluffs and Omaha in early 1867.[17] [18] The C&NW merged with the Union Pacific Railroad over a century later in 1996.

Today, the G&CU's main line between Chicago and West Chicago is a busy commuter service, jointly operated by Union Pacific and Metra as the Union Pacific / West Line. The remainder of the line from West Chicago to Rockford is still in service carrying only freight (though Amtrak service to Rockford has been proposed and planned) with local industrial spurs in Rockford and Loves Park. The route between Rockford and Freeport is abandoned, and is being converted into a rail trail.

Construction[edit]

The railroad was constructed starting in March 1848, and was completed to Freeport in 1853. The first westbound train out of Chicago departed on October 25, 1848, pulled by a used Baldwin-built locomotive named Pioneer.[19][20] When construction reached the Fox River at Elgin in 1850 passengers going farther west could transfer to the stagecoach lines. The railroad extended to Rockford by 1851 and ended construction at Freeport in 1853. The Illinois Central Railroad, using the G&CU construction crew, completed the Freeport to Galena route in 1854 following the stage route already established by Frink, Walker and Company.

Depots[edit]

Stations between Chicago and Freeport included the following:

From West Chicago to Clinton:

Crystal Lake Branch

Aurora Branch

St. Charles Branch

References[edit]

  1. ^ An Act to Incorporate the Galena and Chicago Union Rail Road Company, January 16, 1836. In Laws of the State of Illinois, Ninth General Assembly, Second Session, 1835-1836. Pp. 24-30. Internet Archive
  2. ^ McLear, “Galena and Chicago Union,” p. 24.
  3. ^ "Erie Canal Completion." The Philadelphia Inquirer, September 10, 1825. P. 1.
  4. ^ Solzman, David M. "Portage". Encyclopedia of Chicago.
  5. ^ McLear, “Galena and Chicago Union,” p. 17
  6. ^ ”Galena History.” The City of Galena, Illinois, https://www.cityofgalena.org/our-community/galena-history.
  7. ^ Walthall, John A., “Galena and Aboriginal Trade in Eastern North America,” Illinois State Museum, Scientific Papers, Vol. XVII. Internet Archive P. 25.
  8. ^ McLear, “Galena and Chicago Union,” p. 17
  9. ^ An Act for the Construction of the Illinois and Michigan Canal, February 10, 1835. In Laws of the State of Illinois, 9th General Assembly, First Session. Pp. 222-229.
  10. ^ Putnam, James William. The Illinois and Michigan Canal: A Study in Economic History, The University of Chicago Press, 1918. Pp. 37-38.
  11. ^ Putnam, p.62.
  12. ^ McLear, “Galena and Chicago Union,” p. 19.
  13. ^ McLear, “Galena and Chicago Union,” p. 17
  14. ^ Annual Report of the Directors of the Galena and Chicago Union Rail Road Co. To the Stockholders for the Fiscal Year Ending December 31. Dunlop, Sewell & Spalding. 1861.
  15. ^ Annual Report of the Directors of the Galena and Chicago Union Rail Road Co. To the Stockholders for the Fiscal Year Ending December 31. Dunlop, Sewell & Spalding. 1862.
  16. ^ "Map Showing the Location of the Galena & Chicago Union Railroad with its Branches & Connections in Illinois, Wisconsin, Iowa and Minnesota. Engraved & Printed by G. Woolworth Colton, No. 18 Beekman St., N.Y." 1862. Described in Robert A. Holland (2005) Chicago in Maps 1612 to 2002.. New York: Rizzoli International Publications. pp. 74–75. ISBN 0-8478-2743-7 Original map is located in the Library of Congress, Washington D.C.
  17. ^ "Clinton County Iowa Genealogy".
  18. ^ "Iowa Rail History - Office of Rail Transportation".
  19. ^ Rivanna Chapter, National Railway Historical Society (2005), This Month in Railroad History - October. Retrieved October 25, 2005.
  20. ^ Chicago Historical Society, History Lab Collections - Riding the Rails Archived 2006-05-27 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved October 25, 2005.

Sources[edit]

  • Cronon, William (1992). Nature's metropolis: Chicago and the great west (reprint ed.). W. W. Norton & Company. ISBN 0-393-30873-1. examines the economic effects of the railroad (among other things).
  • An Act to Incorporate the Galena and Chicago Union Rail Road Company, January 16, 1836. In Laws of the State of Illinois Passed by the Ninth General Assembly, at Their Second Session, Commencing December 7, 1835, and ending January 18, 1836, J. Y. Sawyer, Public Printer, 1836. Pp. 24-30. Internet Archive.
  • A Chronological History of Chicago: 1673- Compiled by Chicago Municipal Reference Library, City of Chicago, updated by Municipal Reference Collection, Chicago Public Library.
  • McLear, Patrick E. "The Galena and Chicago Union Railroad: A Symbol of Chicago's Economic Maturity," Journal of the Illinois State Historical Society, Vol. 73, No. 1 (Spring 1980), pp. 17-26. Stable URL.
  • The Northern Counties Gazetteer and Directory for 1855–6: A Complete and Perfect Guide to Northern Illinois Containing a Concise Description of the Cities, Towns & Principal Villages... (1855). 189 Lake Street, Chicago. Reprinted on demand by Pranava Books, India. August 2019.
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