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CBS News
4 days ago
- CBS News
Fox River Trolley Museum in South Elgin is a living history museum
The Fox River Trolley Museum offers a one-of-a-kind experience, a ride by the river enjoying a piece of history. It doesn't look like your usual museum because it's not. There's no building, just 27 vintage rail cars built as far back as 1887. "We're a living history museum," said Jeff Bennett, chief car officer and conductor. "[In the 1890s] you had to walk to work. There weren't cars, horses were for farming. With the advent of trolleys, you could live in Geneva but work in Elgin. That was a huge game-changer. I would say it invented commuting." You'll find amazing craftsmanship on these rail cars, but there's one thing you won't find. "We're out in the beautiful summer weather and these don't have air conditioning," Bennett said. "We can use 40 windows as our cooling device." Train rides take you by the Fox River, and back in time. "When the railroad was being laid out, this was all farm land. And we go over several bridges [built] so farm animals could get to the river to get water," he explained. "You take one of these cars down the line, you ride next to the river, it's a feeling you're not going to get anywhere else." People visiting the museum the day we were there said they liked the ambiance of the train, the wind through the windows and the history that was shared. Jay Kellner said he had never had the opportunity to cruise down the Fox River in that way. "It was a nice perspective," he said. There are even vintage CTA cars, like ones used to carry commuters on Chicago's Northwest Side, on the museum train. "It served 50 years on the Chicago Elevated, the same tracks that are in use today," said Bennett. "It's been here at the museum coming up just as long as it was in regular service." But the train's snazzy looks didn't come easy. It underwent a major renovation several years ago that took 13,000 hours of work done almost completely by volunteers. "The roof, floor, window, paint, pretty much everything," Bennett said. "When we do them, we don't spare any details. The labor of love that has gone into that train, every time I look at it I smile." And no vintage CTA car would be complete without a sign that warns "No smoking. No spitting." The heyday of the trolley came to an end when the automobile era began. "When it started changing was when Henry Ford took off with his model T and Model A, and as more people could afford an automobile, fewer people needed a public mode of transportation," Bennett said. "The final demise was the onset of expressways. Now all of a sudden everybody could just go where they wanted, didn't have to wait for the next train." That's where the Fox River Trolly Museum comes in. "A huge part of what we do is interpreting history, demonstrating history," Bennett said. "Here in South Elgin we just love that we can keep this alive, keep history alive." And he has his own history there. "I can remember every summer, my grandparents bringing me out. My first visit was when I was four years old. So for, 40 years later, to be in charge of their wellbeing, to be able to operate them, be able to pass on the history to the next generation, it's just amazing," he said. "I love every part of what I do. Do you know someone a person or place that brings you joy? We want to share your story. Send us your "Eye on Chicago" ideas using the form below (or clicking here):
Yahoo
05-03-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Black Graves Are Being Moved In Virginia, But This Isn't the First Time...
The remains of hundreds of Black tenant farmers from a former Virginia tobacco plantation will be moved to a dedicated burial ground. The descendants of those buried have spoken out about the decision for the graves to be moved in order to accommodate an industrial park. 'I don't think anybody would want their ancestors exhumed or moved,' said Jeff Bennett, whose great-great-great grandfather remains are at the plantation. 'It just seems that 100 or so odd years after their death, there's still no rest.' Despite this happening in 2025, Black cemeteries have dealt with abandonment and destruction for centuries. Here are some other examples of Black graves not receiving the respect and care they deserve. Zion Cemetery, located in Tampa, Florida, is considered the city's oldest Black cemetery. Its roots can be traced to the early 1900s. Back in 2019, it was rediscovered below a public-housing project. Since then, over 100 graves have been identified. Rodney Kite-Powell, a historian at the Tampa Bay History Center, told 'The Art Newspaper' that 'Zion was purposefully obscured from the public record so the land could be developed.' Boston's second oldest cemetery, Copp's Hill Burying Ground, was established in 1660 and is the gravesite for those who lived, worked, and died in Boston's North End. It is also the burial site of more than 1,000 free and enslaved Black people whose identities remain unknown. Except for a couple of marked graves—including that of Prince Hall and Abel Barbados—evidence of Black people thriving in the city has all but been erased. In 1874, Greenwood Cemetery was founded in St. Louis, Missouri as the first Black commercial burial ground after the Civil War. More than 50,000 people were buried in Greenwood, including Harriett Scott and along with Dred Scott who famously sued for their freedom. However, after it was sold in the late 1970s, the cemetery was subjected to vandalism and neglect. The Greenwood Cemetery Preservation Association has worked to restore the site and identify those buried. Evergreen Cemetery was founded in 1905 in St. Petersburg, Florida. It was a segregated cemetery, designated specifically for Black people until expanding into the adjacent Oaklawn cemetery (segregated by section) became necessary. Both Evergreen and Oaklawn operated until 1926 until it was closed and condemned by order of city officials. The city ordinance mandated that those buried at Evergreen and Oaklawn be relocated based on race. The site now sits underneath the city's interstate 175. The Second Asbury AME (African Methodist Episcopal) cemetery on Staten Island, New York, was established in 1850. The church was torn down by vandals in the 1880s, leaving the remaining headstones completely broken. The site would eventually be seized by the city in the 1950s and turned into a Shell station in 1963. Nearly 20 years later, it was transformed into a strip mall—though none of the bodies were ever moved. For the latest news, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
