Forgotten Lands, Places and Transit

In 1902, the Manchester Dorset and Granville Railroad was chartered as a subsidiary of the Norcross‑West Marble Company to haul prized Dorset white marble to finishers in Manchester so it could be shipped on to major cities, most prominently New York City, roughly 200 miles south. From the Manchester, VT instagram  page: " From 1904 to 1925, the Manchester, Dorset & Granville Railroad line, affectionately known as the “Mud, Dirt & Gravel” moved marble from the quarries in Dorset to Manchester Depot. After being cut and polished at the finishing mill, blocks of marble left Manchester on another train headed to New York City to build massive structures such as the New York Public Library.  Passengers were added later but plan to extend the railroad line through downtown Dorset and on to Granville, NY never actually happened and the rails were pulled up in 1934. The rail bed remained, overgrown and forgotten until a passionate group of local residents purchased a section ...

Almost eight (!) years ago, I came up with my own list of ideas for new rail trails in the Chicago area , that might piggyback off of the success that The 606 Trail has had with regards to community redevelopment, developing excellent bike infrastructure, and connecting neighborhoods across Chicago's North Side. One of the proposals at that time was just gaining steam, the Englewood Trail, which would use a abandoned spur owned by Norfolk Southern Railway between 58th and 59th St in Chicago's Englewood neighborhood, and if all goes according to plan, will be opening as a linear park late next year! While projects like the 606 or the High Line focused heavily on recreation and aesthetics, the Englewood project is designed as an economic and ecological engine. It aims to serve the people currently living in the neighborhood by addressing decades of systemic disinvestment through urban agriculture and local job creation. For those following the history of Chicago’s industrial ar...