Bishop Hill, IL: 1871+1901 Rock Island Depots

1871: (Satellite, not only has the depot and tracks disappeared, but so has most of Lindstrom St. )

1901: (Satellite)

Trent Briggs posted three photos with the comment:

Returning to our weekly look at the BHHA Collection, this week, we take a look at Bishop Hill's Train Depots.  The first depot was built in 1871, after the completion of the Rock Island & Peoria branch line.  This station included a depot, siding track, and watering tank with two pipes.  It was located at the east end of Lindstrom Street, just north of the Bishop Hill cemetery.  

In 1901, a major realignment project resulted in the straightening of the track between Cambridge and Galva. This project also caused the Bishop Hill track and depot to be moved to a spot one mile east of town.  In 1933, the depot was closed after passenger service was discontinued.

The first photograph from our archives is of the first train depot.  The next two photographs are of Bishop Hill's 2nd train depot.

Trent Briggs shared

1

2

3

Dennis DeBruler commented on Trent's post
The depot appears to be gone, but one can still see remnants of the original route in this 1938 aerial photo.

Trent Briggs: Dennis DeBruler the track was relocated due to frequent flooding of the Edwards River.

The new alignment was built on a filled embankment and a high bridge

A colorized version of Photo 3 above.

Trent Briggs posted
Bishop Hill 2nd depot, grain elevator and lumber yard circa 1933

I could not find a topo map old enough to show the old route even as a dashed line labeled "Old RR Grade."

1940/57 Galva Quad @ 62,500

This map does accurately mark that the 1901 depot was a little south of the road and that there were extra tracks by the depot.

Digitally Zoomed