Not only is the depot and railroad lost, but most of the town is lost.
It looks like the depot disappeared after the hard roads of the 1920s were developed because I could not find it in 1938.
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Effingham County Courthouse Museum Effingham IL posted Good morning! Today's picture takes us to West Township. West Township is located in the far southwest corner of Effingham County. This picture shows Gilmore Depot in West Township. Gilmore was also known as Welton. West Township was crossed on the northeast corner by the old Springfield and Ohio Railroad which later became the Baltimore and Ohio Southern. The railroad was abandoned and tracks removed in 1986. I bet if you have driven through this area recently, you probably did not realize that a depot and train tracks were once located here. You can barely discern where the rails were once placed. Many people would board this train to shop in Altamont. This did this especially in bad weather when it was difficult the unpaved roads. Sometimes they would ride this train to visit family and friends in Altamont. Sometimes they rode the train even further to visit family and friends who lived outside of Effingham County. It is hard sometimes for us to comprehend how difficult the dirt roads were in bad weather. A lot of change came with the advent of "hard roads". I remember my grandma saying that it made a huge change in their lives because they were no longer cut off from others during bad weather. Wherever you may be, I wish you a wonderful day! Sibyl E Etchason: My older siblings rode “The Puddlejumper” as it was called from Gilmore to Altamont each Sunday night and home Friday night all 4 years of high school at ACHS. Mike Varady: There was an extension of the B & O Railway. It extended from Gilmore to near Heartville, near the current "Y Yard." Richard Fiedler shared Richard Fiedler shared |
Note that the Mahan Cemetery still exists.
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1956/57 Edgewood Quad @ 62,500 |
It looks like the depot disappeared after the hard roads of the 1920s were developed because I could not find it in 1938.
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1938 Aerial Photo from ILHAP |
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