Galesburg, IL

Galesburg began with George W. Gale, an anti-slavery Presbyterian minister from Oneida County, NY, who intended to establish a college providing religious education in the Mississippi Valley. Gale and his colony founded Knox College in 1837. The institution is still highly regarded among small, private liberal arts colleges, having distinctive academic and research programs. The college was the location of one of the famous Lincoln-Douglas debates of 1858.

Galesburg is the birthplace of poet and Pulitzer-prize-winning writer Carl Sandburg, whose father worked for the railroad there; as well as home to Carl Sandburg College. Sandburg is renowned for the inspirational Americana of his prose and poetry.

It’s no coincidence that the Galesburg station and railroad museum are adjacent to the Knox College campus, as the railroad has also played a major part in Galesburg’s life since the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy (CB&Q) Railroad arrived in 1854. The CB&Q (succeeded by BNSF) established a major rail yard in Galesburg with car-shops, round house, locomotive maintenance department, bridge department and stockyards. This still-active rail yard was the first to use hump sorting.

Galesburg has been known for its Railroad Days since 1974, when the BNSF first opened its rail yards for a public tour. The museum, adjacent to the station, was started from rail yard employee memorabilia and treasures displayed during the tours. It is now home to a historic Pullman club car, a CB&Q Way Car, a railway post office car, the CB&Q steam locomotive #3006 and a growing collection of railroad-themed artifacts. The nearby Discovery Depot children’s museum provides a family destination year-round.

The Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe (AT&SF) Railroad built through Galesburg in 1887 on its way to Chicago at the invitation of the city, opening large east-west markets for the community. One of Galesburg’s major products that the ATSF transported was durable and handsome paving bricks, namely Purington Pavers, which have been used world-wide, including Paris and Bombay, India. Although the brick factories are closed, these historic bricks are still much sought after for both restoration and new construction.

Amtrak served both the AT&SF and CB&Q stations until shortly after their merger into BNSF, when the service shifted to the site of the last CB&Q station. The city built a new station on the site of the old in 1984. Even now, the station is often full to overflowing as ridership increases, and the city is seeking to expand the facility.