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...

Block 61 at Midewin National Tallgrass Prairie has a rare quality that I'm always seemingly chasing: the feeling that something important used to be here… and that the land is still deciding what to do with it. Midewin National Tallgrass Prairie is a federally protected prairie reserve near Wilmington, Illinois, managed by the U.S. Forest Service. Established in 1996, it is the first national tallgrass prairie in the United States and serves as a major ecological restoration project on former Joliet Army Ammunition Plant land, which served the war efforts of both World War II and the Vietnam War. The name chosen was “Midewin,” derived from the Potawatomi word referring to a traditional society or gathering of healers. Today's blog focuses on the Block 61 trail to the east; which in many spots feels less like a nature hike and more like an archaeological survey of the Cold War. Men only want one thing. The thing: Step inside and the temperature drops. Sound flattens. The curved...

If you ever find yourself on a drive down Addison Road between North Avenue and Lake Street, you pass a strangely wide strip of land on the west side of the road - too broad for a sidewalk, too linear for a park, too empty to be accidental. That strip once carried a railroad. There were two Addison Railroads that operated in the United States, one in Illinois and one in Vermont, and each had no relation to the other. The Vermont Addison Railroad became part of the Rutland Railroad, and is discussed in another blog. The Addison Railroad (in Illinois) once occupied the large easement on the west side of Addison Rd between IL-64 (North Av) to just north of US-20 (Lake St) in Addison, IL, about two miles in length. Built in 1890, it was incorporated into the Chicago Madison & Northern Railroad , which itself became part of the Illinois Central by 1892. Under the IC, the short spur was simply known as the Addison Branch. Addison Railroad, 1892 . "Illinois Central Train in Addiso...

Across the rolling hills and rugged landscapes of western Ireland, one can find peculiar relics of a dark chapter in the island’s history. These are the Famine Roads - routes that climb into the hills, twist through valleys, and often end abruptly, leading nowhere. Their haunting presence is a testament to the desperation and suffering endured by countless Irish peasants during the Great Famine of 1845–1852. "One of the many roads to nowhere built during the Famine" (Image via sboins on Reddit ) The Great Famine , or Án Gorta Mór, was a catastrophic period in Ireland’s history, marked by mass starvation, disease, and emigration. Over one million people perished, and another two million fled the country, profoundly altering Ireland’s demographic and cultural landscape. In an era dominated by the rigid doctrines of laissez-faire economics, relief efforts were minimal, and assistance often came with cruel conditions. Under the Poor Law and its amendments, relief programs were es...