By Karen Haave
The Village of Monee seems like a quiet little place now, but in the 1850s, it was a boomtown and the nucleus of Will County.
In a presentation for the Monee Historical Society recently, MHS President Christi Holston said the village, at that time, had a general store, post office, schoolhouse, and hotel, along with a physician and justice of the peace.
It was all the result of the railroad being built there.
Holston’s presentation, “How the Railroad Shaped the History of Monee,” was one of numerous events the MHS will hold marking the village’s year-long celebration of its 2024 Sesquicentennial.
The presentation revealed interesting facts about what later became the Illinois Central Railroad, including the village board’s decision to reroute the tracks so they all ran underground. And while the railroad initially caused a rapid growth spurt in the village, it also led to a demise in the 1920s.
“In the 1830s, Abraham Lincoln urged land grant aid in the Illinois Legislature for a railroad that would pass through the prairies of Illinois, from Chicago to the southern part of the state,” she said. “Stephen A. Douglas advocated for the same thing.
“With this kind of backing, the railroad became part of a grand scheme in 1837 but had no momentum until September of 1850, when Congress granted 2,595,133 acres of public land to the state for construction of a railroad from Chicago to Mobile. In 1850, there were fewer than 100 miles of railroad in Illinois, isolating the state from the rest of the country, so the need for the railroad was great.”
In 1849, August Herbert, a veteran of the Mexican War, was awarded a land grant by the U.S. Government of 160 acres in recognition of his service. In 1850, he built his home on one parcel of the property, Holston said.
“The railroad did not run through Herbert’s property, but it ran so close that his land became available as part of the town site. He sold 40 acres to the railroad and had another portion laid out into blocks, streets, and alleys. Herbert had the original plat of the village recorded at the courthouse in Joliet in 1853. The Illinois Central also platted their 40 acres in 1855 but reserved a 200-f00t right-of-way through the village, extending from Chestnut Street on the west to Oak Road on the east.
“In the 1850 census, Monee – originally called Monee Station – had a population of 145 people, making it the largest town between Chicago and Urbana on the Illinois Central Line.
“With the completion of the Illinois Central Railroad (ICRR) through Monee and the addition of a train depot in 1853,” Holston continued, “the population of Monee began to increase rapidly. During the 1850s, Monee became a boomtown and the most populous community in eastern Will County, erecting a general store, post office, schoolhouse, and hotel. There was a physician and justice of the peace.
“Monee Station became the nucleus to which farmers brought their grain. Dairy farming, and oats, corn, and hay were the major crops, while the proximity of the railroad made it possible to transport these raw goods to Chicago.
“Monee began to adapt in response to the needs of the farmers by erecting grain elevators, a grist mill, livery stable, blacksmith, and many new houses.”
According to historical records, the amount of produce the grain farmers brought to Monee demanded that the railroad build a larger freight house near the tracks. Several influential residents, realizing the profitability of this new industry, erected grain elevators for handling and storing the grain. The Schiffer, Plagge and Luehrs elevators, along with the Kolstedt Lumber Warehouse, made the railroad right of way through town a busy place.
Beginning in 1886, the IC built a double track through Monee to Kankakee to accommodate the increase in traffic, and crossing gates were installed at Main and Court Streets. Ten deaths in town already had been attributed to accidents along the track.
“While the IC’s route between Chicago and Centralia was virtually a straight line, it suffered from having some of the steepest grades on the entire railroad, and it was becoming a major concern,” Holston continued.
“The grade set the tonnage a locomotive could carry. The continuing growth of rail traffic during the early 1900s motivated the IC to make plans to flatten out the steep grade. The U.S.’s involvement in the first World War put these plans on hold until 1920.
“Since Monee was the highest point of elevation between Chicago and Carbondale on the IC line, steam engines needed to stop and take on water before climbing the hill into Monee. This waiting time created a bottleneck of waiting trains up and down the line. Records show that in October of 1921, more than 1,000 freight trains came through Monee, as well as 32 passenger trains a day.
“In January of 1922, IC officials met with the Monee Village Board, presenting a blueprint of the proposed depression of the tracks. Grain elevators, warehouses, and the depot would all need to be relocated, and more than one million cubic yards of earth would need to be excavated at a cost of more than $2.5 million to $45 million dollars today.
“By March of that year, the village board passed ‘An Ordinance providing for the elimination of grade crossings of the streets in the Village of Monee, across the right of way and tracks of the Illinois Central Railroad Company, and for lowering the plan and said roadbed and tracks within the corporate limits of said Village of Monee.’
“Work on the big cut began in April of 1922, when the first trainload of machinery and equipment arrived. Within a few days, the first trainload of earth was moved from Monee to Matteson, where the IC tracks were being elevated.
“In June, a large dragline and two steam shovels began excavating, and for more than a year, about 300 railcars of earth a day were shipped north. Local farmers were given temporary employment and brought their teams of horses to help in the earth removal process. The last train load of dirt was removed in May of 1923, leaving a gash through the heart of the village 25 feet deep and 80 feet wide at the bottom.
“Thus, the fate of the village was sealed. Though the IC Railroad through Monee was responsible for the town’s early growth, it was also responsible for its stagnation and lack of growth from the 1920s onwards.
“The old depot was demolished in 1923, and permanent bridges were built across the cut at Court, Main, and Mill Street, and south of town at the location of the Chicago and Southern Interurban Traction Company’s substation.
“The Interurban was Monee’s “other” rail line, which operated briefly between Chicago and Kankakee in the early days of the 20th Century. This was a small electric railway originating from 63rd Street in Chicago and ran down Halsted Street, which what would later be Rte. 1, then headed west across open land from Crete to the south end of Monee. Just south of Monee, it made a sharp turn to the south and followed the IC tracks on the east side making stops in Monee, Peotone, Manteno, Indian Oaks, and Kankakee.”
The company suffered a substation explosion after a lightning strike in 1921 and went out of service permanently in 1927.
“Careful observers can follow much of the original right-of-way from Crete to Monee,” Holston added.
A footbridge also was built at Margaret Street in 1923. Through the years, the little wooden bridge became a local favorite for all kinds of shenanigans. Not only was it a great place to hang out with your friends, the “walking” bridge became, at various times, a bicycle riding, motorcycle racing, Model-T squeezing thoroughfare. The bridge was demolished in the mid-1980s.
In 1923, a new depot was built by more than 50 carpenters in the cut between Main and Court Streets. It remained even after the trains no longer stopped in Monee, finally being removed and used as a gift shop at the Thompson Winery, which stood west of the railway at Pauling Road.
The winery was closed and abandoned in the 1980s, and the one-time depot burned to the ground around 2001.
“After the cut was completed in 1923, trains began to operate on three tracks south of Monee and four tracks north,” Holston continued.
“The IC started to recoup their investment immediately, with longer trains and more tonnage per train. They could move through town faster, and the steam engines did not have to stop at the water towers in order to make it up the hill. Gradually, through the rest of the 20th Century, rail freight traffic declined, and commuter traffic from Monee halted altogether.
“The current Monee Reservoir Forest Preserve at the south end of town originally was excavated in 1895 as a source of water for the steam locomotives. In the early years it was also a source of Monee’s annual ice harvest and later was stocked with fish and leased by the Isaac Walton League. It has been a popular fishing/picnicking destination ever since.
“Without the grade crossings, freight trains no longer needed to slow down as they traveled through town. As automobile use increased and the demand for passenger trains decreased, eventually the trains ceased stopping in Monee at all. This loss of visitors and revenue was a huge blow, and the Monee of old never quite recovered.
“John Thompson, who owned at least a dozen farms and ran a cattle feedlot in Monee, had an interest in preserving some of our railroading glory days. His #1 farm, on Central Avenue south of Stuenkel Road, became the showplace and then graveyard of at least a dozen steam and diesel locomotives he began collecting in the 1960s early 1970s. He also had passenger cars, at least one of which was a Pullman Palace car, and a caboose. Thompson’s fervor for collecting soon outran his ability to care for and restore the engines, and they fell into disrepair and decay. Some were rescued and removed by other collectors, but others rusted away.
“The caboose, which was parked near the winery depot went up in flames with the depot.
“During the rail heyday in the 1930s and 40s, the famous Green Diamond, a streamline passenger train operated between Chicago and St Louis, making the return trip the same day. Locals set their watches by the arrival of the sleek, bright green engine and cars.
“Even though the glory days of Monee’s Railroad past are gone,” Holston said, concluding her presentation, “we owe a debt of gratitude to the railroad that shaped much of the history of the Village of Monee.”
A second presentation also was given by Rachel White, detailing the History of Monee.
“Monee was settled beginning in the 1820-1830s, with the earliest arrivals coming from the eastern United States,” White said.
“By the 1850s, German immigrants were the predominant cultural and religious force in the area. The German farmers were drawn to this area by the fertile land and because they could employ the tile drainage system of farming they had practiced in the low-lying fields of their homeland along the north sea.
“The name ‘Monee’ is a mispronunciation of Marie, the wife of French fur trader, Joseph Bailly, who was awarded a land grant of 180 acres in what is now Raccoon Grove as a bounty for his service in the Blackhawk War of 1832. “Princess Monee” probably never visited the “reservation” set aside for her, or the village named in her honor. However, the Raccoon Grove area was home to many Native American peoples.
“Farming was the predominant occupation in the area. Dairy farming, and oats, corn, and hay were the major crops. The proximity of the railroad made it possible to transport these raw goods to Chicago, and Monee began to adapt in response to the needs of the farmers. Grain elevators, a grist mill, livery stable, blacksmith, and even a factory for the production of “Lehmann’s Combined Agricultural Machine” were built.
“By 1874, Monee had grown to a size where it made sense to incorporate as a village. A village board of trustees and a police magistrate were elected. A municipal building was erected by 1879, and a water system and pump house built. In the mid-to-late 1890s, many new dwellings were erected from lumber salvaged from hotels built for the Columbian Exposition in Chicago, in 1893,” she noted.
“The first telephone communication was in 1894, and a full system was installed in the village in 1899. By 1902, there were 21 phones registered in Monee.”
Historic records show that in October of 1921 there were 1,100 freight trains running over the I.C. tracks between Matteson and Kankakee. There were also 32 passenger trains daily. In 1922, the Illinois Central Railroad officials announced a plan to alleviate this bottleneck by depressing the tracks, moving businesses back, and building bridges over the depression. The depot was moved down to track level. Without the grade crossings, however, freight trains no longer needed to slow down as they traveled through town. As automobile use increased and the demand for passenger trains decreased, eventually, the trains ceased stopping in Monee at all. This loss of visitors and revenue was the first blow to the growth of Monee.
A second economic blow was the First World War followed closely by the Great Depression. At the time, Monee was home to four banks, all of which folded, causing severe hardship to the town. Like most of the country, businesses were forced to close as spending power decreased. Like many small rural American towns, many people were forced to move to larger urban areas to survive, reducing Monee’s population even more. It wasn’t until after the end of World War II that people finally were able to return to small towns in any great number. With no rail stop or many businesses in town, there was little reason to return to Monee.
“Completed in 1968, Interstate 57 gave new life to Monee,” White added. “This major expressway ran through the west side of Monee directly to Chicago and enabled people to use this main artery expressway to commute into Chicago for work. A drop in auto prices in the 1960s and early 1970s also helped ordinary people purchase vehicles so they could take advantage of working for higher wages in the city, while still living in safe suburban communities to raise families.”
