roads

Transportation

Roads

The 19th Century

Act Concerning Bridge Building Authorization, 1817

  • This act permits William Morrison to build a bridge that will make it possible to cross the Kaskaskia River at a point convenient for reaching the soon-to-be-built Washington County seat. He will do so at his own expense, but he is permitted to charge tolls to people who were crossing the bridge.
  • Citation: Philbrick, Francis S. The Laws of Illinois Territory 1809-1818. Springfield: Illinois State Historical Library, 1950. Used by permission of the Illinois Historic Preservation Agency.

Tavern License of Nathan Cromwell, Sangamon County, 1827 / Typed Transcription

  • In 1823 state law established standards for licensing taverns. The tavern keeper had to put up a $300 bond, provide food and lodging as well as drink, forbid disorder or gambling, state and post his rates, and not sell liquor to Native Americans, slaves, servants, or minors under the age of 21. If a tavern keeper violated these rules they could be fined or have their license revoked. The Sangamon County Commissioners Office issued this license.
  • Citation: Turnbaugh, Dr. Roy C. Jr. and Robert E. Bailey. Windows to the Past: A Selection of Illinois County Records from 1818 to 1880. Springfield: Illinois State Archives, 1985. Used by permission of the Illinois Historic Preservation Agency.

Notice to Introduce an Act to Authorize Samuel Musick to Build a Toll Bridge, 9 December, 1834 / Typed Transcription

  • Abraham Lincoln wrote this note to inform the Speaker of the Illinois House that he intended to introduce legislation to allow Samuel Musick to build a toll bridge in Sangamon County. This was the first piece of legislation by Lincoln that became a law.
  • Citation: Illinois State Archives Staff. Abraham Lincoln in Illinois: A Selection of Documents From the Illinois State Archives. Springfield: Illinois State Archives, 2008. Used by permission of the Illinois Historic Preservation Agency.

A Bill for an Act to Locate a State Road Between Springfield and George C. Miller's Ferry, 2 February, 1835 / Typed Transcription

  • Abraham Lincoln sponsored many bills similar to this document to help improve transportation in the state of Illinois. This one was to build a road connecting Springfield to a ferry twelve miles from New Salem.
  • Citation: Illinois State Archives Staff. Abraham Lincoln in Illinois: A Selection of Documents From the Illinois State Archives. Springfield: Illinois State Archives, 2008. Used by permission of the Illinois Historic Preservation Agency.

A Bill for an Act to Relocate a Part of the State Road Leading from Springfield to Lewiston, 15 December, 1835 / Typed Transcription

  • Abraham Lincoln wrote this bill to relocate the state road from Springfield to Lewistown (or Lewiston). Not everyone liked the new route in this bill, so Lincoln proposed another bill that created a committee to decide on the best path for the road.
  • Citation: Illinois State Archives Staff. Abraham Lincoln in Illinois: A Selection of Documents From the Illinois State Archives. Springfield: Illinois State Archives, 2008. Used by permission of the Illinois Historic Preservation Agency.

Schuyler County Road Supervisor’s Report, 1835 / Typed Transcription

  • Roads were built and maintained by a tax on local citizens who owned property, payable in labor or cash. If a man chose to discharge his tax by working he was ordered to report to a particular section of road and was credited with 75 cents for an eight hour day. This provision for payment in labor was dropped in 1883. In 1835 the tax was 15 cents for every 20 acres of land.
  • *Note that a woman, Elizabeth Bartlow, is listed as a landowner.
  • Citation: Turnbaugh, Dr. Roy C. Jr. and Robert E. Bailey. Windows to the Past: A Selection of Illinois County Records from 1818 to 1880. Springfield: Illinois State Archives, 1985. Used by permission of the Illinois Historic Preservation Agency.

Bridge Drawing, Fayette County, 1850 / Typed Transcription

  • This bridge was built across the Kaskaskia River. The National Road began at Cumberland, Maryland and ended at Vandalia, Illinois; it is now U.S. Highway 40. It was started in 1815 and construction ended at approximately the time that this bridge was planned. Bridges from this period were usually solidly built, initially of stone or wood and later of iron.
  • Citation: Turnbaugh, Dr. Roy C. Jr. and Robert E. Bailey. Windows to the Past: A Selection of Illinois County Records from 1818 to 1880. Springfield: Illinois State Archives, 1985. Used by permission of the Illinois Historic Preservation Agency.

Petition for a License to Exhibit a Panorama of the Overland Route to California, 27 March 1851 / Typed Transcription

  • Citation: Bailey, Robert E. and Elaine Shemoney Evans. Early Chicago, 1833-1871 A Selection of City Council Proceedings Files. Springfield: Illinois State Archives, 1999. Used by permission of the Illinois Historic Preservation Agency.

The 20th Century

Photo of State Street in Chicago, c. 1907

  • Photo caption: State Street, Chicago, looking north from Madison Street (one of the busiest streets in the world, 18 miles long).
  • Citation: Strong, Josiah. The Challenge of the City. New York: Eaton & Mains, 1907.

Office of Price Administration Press Release Concerning Rubber Conservation, 11 October 1942

  • Citation: Bailey, Robert E. and Elaine Shemoney Evans. Illinois at War, 1941-1945. Springfield: Illinois State Archives, 1994. Used by permission of the Illinois Historic Preservation Agency.

Car Pooling Promotion, 1943

  • Citation: Bailey, Robert E. and Elaine Shemoney Evans. Illinois at War, 1941-1945. Springfield: Illinois State Archives, 1994. Used by permission of the Illinois Historic Preservation Agency.

Railroads

The 19th Century

Communication from the City Council of Galena Relating to a Railroad, 16 May 1843 / Typed Transcription

  • Citation: Bailey, Robert E. and Elaine Shemoney Evans. Early Chicago, 1833-1871 A Selection of City Council Proceedings Files. Springfield: Illinois State Archives, 1999. Used by permission of the Illinois Historic Preservation Agency.

Notice of Writ of Attachment, May 1857

  • This notice was published in the Shelby Banner newspaper to notify Willis Phelps, William Mattoon, and James Barnes, of the Terre Haute and Alton Railroad, that they were being sued for failing to pay William Headen and Hiram H. Trimble. The men had purchased supplies for railroad workers. This document is cross-listed on the Crime and Punishment page.
  • Citation: I/B/Box 5 Headen and Trimble v. Phelps, Mattoon, and Barnes 1857 (28) Number 105. IRAD in Booth Library at Eastern Illinois University.

Invitation of the Illinois Central Railroad Company, 26 April 1855 / Typed Transcription

  • Citation: Bailey, Robert E. and Elaine Shemoney Evans. Early Chicago, 1833-1871 A Selection of City Council Proceedings Files. Springfield: Illinois State Archives, 1999. Used by permission of the Illinois Historic Preservation Agency.

Albert H. Tracy v. The Board of Supervisors of Shelby County, January 1861 / Typed Transcription

  • This document serves as evidence of how rural areas pursued economic development through internal improvements in the nineteenth century. Counties (and other units of local government) sold bonds, thus raising funds to purchase railroad stock. This stock served as an investment opportunity for the county and lured the railroad to build tracks in the county. Individuals who purchased the bonds were guaranteed a certain rate of return from the county bond. Albert Tracy sued the Shelby County Board of Supervisors when they did not pay him the interest due on the bonds he purchased, which had allowed Shelby County to invest in the stock of the Terre Haute and Alton Railroad Company. This document is cross-listed on the Banking and the Economy and Crime and Punishment pages.
  • Citation: I/B/Box 5 Shelby County Board of Supervisors 1861 (43) Number 123. IRAD in Booth Library at Eastern Illinois University.

Law Concerning Railroads, 1871

  • This act regulated rates for passengers and freight being shipped by railroads to prevent unjust discrimination. It established a board of railroad and warehouse commissioners and prescribed their powers and duties. This act was considered to be part of the Grange Movement that became fairly influential after the Civil War. It is also connected with the Public Warehouse Act included on the Industry page. It was approved on 13 April 1871.
  • Citation: Gross, Eugene L. and William L. Gross. The Statutes of Illinois: An Analytical Digest of All the General Laws of the State in Force at the Present Time, Second Volume: Acts of 1871 and 1872. Springfield: E. L. & W. L. Gross, 1872.

Law Concerning Railroads, 1873

  • This act, passed two years later, revised the laws concerning the state’s regulation of the railroad industry passed in 1871. It was approved on 15 April 1873.
  • Citation: Gross, William L., ed. The Statutes of Illinois: An Analytical Compilation of All the General Laws of the State in Force at the Present Time, Volume III: Acts of 1873-4. Riverside: H. O. Houghton & Company, 1874.

Law Concerning Horse and Dummy Railroads, 1874

  • This act regulate the creation of dummy railroad and tramway companies. Dummy engines were steam engines that were enclosed in a wooden box to make them appear more similar to passenger cars in an attempt to keep from startling horses. The act was passed on 19 March 1874.
  • Citation: Gross, William L., ed. The Statutes of Illinois: An Analytical Compilation of All the General Laws of the State in Force at the Present Time, Volume III: Acts of 1873-4. Riverside: H. O. Houghton & Company, 1874.

The 20th Century

Map of Mattoon Township, 1913, showing railroad and interurban routes.

  • Citation: Geo. A. Ogle & Company, Standard Atlases of Coles County, Illinois

Map of La Fayette Township, 1913, showing railroad and interurban routes.

  • Citation: Geo. A. Ogle & Company, Standard Atlases of Coles County, Illinois

Canals and River Ways

The 19th Century

Map of the "Canal Town" of Chicago, 4 August 1830

  • This map shows the original Town of Chicago, the eastern terminus of the Illinois and Michigan Canal, as surveyed by James Thompson by order of the Commissioners. His plat showing purchasers of lots, filed 4 August 1830. "The Forks," not the Public Square, was the center of population at this time.
  • Citation: Putnam, James William. The Illinois and Michigan Canal. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 1918.

Letter from Martin Van Buren, 12 May 1842 / Typed Transcription

  • Citation: Bailey, Robert E. and Elaine Shemoney Evans. Early Chicago, 1833-1871 A Selection of City Council Proceedings Files. Springfield: Illinois State Archives, 1999. Used by permission of the Illinois Historic Preservation Agency.

Photo of Chicago Harbor, 12 March 1849

  • This photo shows shipping crowded at the mouth of the Chicago River by the flood in the Des Plaines 12 March 1849. This is probably the earliest camera view of the river in existence, the original being a daguerreotype by P. von Schneidau. Fort Dearborn is shown at the right.
  • Citation: Putnam, James William. The Illinois and Michigan Canal. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 1918.

Communication Regarding the Chicago Harbor, 30 March 1849 / Typed Transcription

  • Citation: Bailey, Robert E. and Elaine Shemoney Evans. Early Chicago, 1833-1871 A Selection of City Council Proceedings Files. Springfield: Illinois State Archives, 1999. Used by permission of the Illinois Historic Preservation Agency.

Communication from the Mayor Concerning the Flow of the Chicago River, 30 December 1862 / Typed Transcription

  • Citation: Bailey, Robert E. and Elaine Shemoney Evans. Early Chicago, 1833-1871 A Selection of City Council Proceedings Files. Springfield: Illinois State Archives, 1999. Used by permission of the Illinois Historic Preservation Agency.

Communication from the State Board of Health Concerning Pollution of the Chicago River, Illinois and Michigan Canal and the Illinois River, 10 January 1880 / Typed Transcription

  • Citation: Bailey, Robert E. and Elaine Shemoney Evans. From the Ashes, 1872-1900 A Selection of Documents from the Proceedings Files of the Chicago City Council. Springfield: Illinois State Archives, 1990. Used by permission of the Illinois Historic Preservation Agency.

Other

The 19th Century

Travels in Illinois in 1819

  • In 1819, a German named named Ferdinand Ernst traveled through the United States. He published an account of his journey in Hanover in 1823. This account, an excerpt of the entire work, describes the variety of methods for transportation available in Illinois. Though lengthy, it is an interesting and enjoyable account.
  • Citation: Illinois State Historical Library Board of Trustees. Transactions of the Illinois State Historical Society for the Year 1903. Springfield: Phillips Brothers, 1904.

The 20th Century

Letter from the U.S. Secretary of State Concerning the Graf Zeppelin, 19 October 1933

  • Citation: Bailey, Robert and Elaine Shemoney Evans. Hard Times In Illinois: 1930-1940. Springfield: Illinois State Archives, 2002. Used by permission of the Illinois Historic Preservation Agency.