This is one of those railroad towns where not just the depot is lost, the entire town is lost. The dates in the title are for the town, not just the depot.
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| Andy Zukowski posted Toledo, Peoria & Western Railroad Depot in Civer, Illinois. 1900 The Town of Civer, IL is now a "ghost town" west of Canton, IL. Robert Sullivan: Why did the town exist? Many towns died when better transportation arrived. Dustin Newton: Robert Sullivan basically halfway between Canton and Cuba. Grain elevator/seed store and there was a grocery store as well. Probably a livestock place as well. My father sold his pigs in the late 40's early 50's and I was never sure where he sold them, but I assume it was Civer or Canton. The TP&W would have been a direct route to the stockyard in Peoria. Richard Fiedler: Robert Sullivan like Dustin said plus every 5-6 miles or so a depot was constructed for traffic control. These stations not only served as a gateway to whatever town sprang up but also a a telegraphic link to both the dispatcher and the outside world. These depots served as “Train Order Offices” and had like Civer a Train Order Signal that would indicate to an approaching train if the operator had orders and clearance from the dispatcher to deliver to the crew and instructions on how to proceed. Robert Sullivan: Those were the days of dirt roads with wagons or railroads. Walking or riding a horse if you were lucky. The midwest farm country was settled by the railroads. The little villages might have a general store to go with the grain elevator, station, post office and a few houses. The Homestead Act of 1869(?) that was used to settle west of the Mississippi specified a railroad every14 miles, with alternate sections of land given to the railroads to sell to farmers. This was because 7 miles was the distance a farmer could take his wagon and return in a day. An old railroad map of Iowa is the best illustration of that. Illinois was settled under an earlier Homestead Act, but the dominance of the railroads was similar. At one time Illinois had more miles of track per square mile than any other state. Andy Zukowski shared Richard Fiedler shared |
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| Richard Fiedler commented on his share and Andy's post |
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| Larry Candilas commented on Andy's post Not much left around 1940 |
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| Larry Candilas commented on Andy's post Quite a town when it was on the map in 1912! |
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| Hal Collins commented on Andy's share Spring of 2011 |
It was gone by 1906.
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| Cary Miller, May 2020, cropped |
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