Chicago Great Western Museum

06/23/2026

Wednesday, May 15, 1984 issue of Elizabeth Weekly News. CHANGE was in the air! Elizabeth and Hanover school districts were discussing issues concerning consolidation. Elizabeth Garage changes ownership as Jane Specht sold her share of the business to her nephews, Jeff and Jay! Many great stories told about how and what was acceptable for payment when her father ran the garage! Other changes came as a result of World War 2 and technology.

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06/21/2026

A few weeks ago, a post of the first image of the unknown man was posted. Photo was taken by a photographer by the last name, Kolb of Elizabeth. It is believed to be Reverend Augustus Tolton...The information and post about Tolton were provided by a viewer by the name of Linda Sprecher Schoenmann . See image number 2! Thank you, Linda, for posting! We hope you have solved the mystery of this unknown photo. Elizabeth Historical Society member and researcher, Barb Mintmire, found 6 articles in the Galena Daily Gazette through the Illinois Digital Newspaper Collections. Articles are attached but here is the summary:

May 18, 1886:
Augustus Tolton was ordained in Rome. His home was in Quincy, Illinois. "First colored priest yet to come from America. If not the first, there are but few before him."

October 3, 1891:
Tolton lectured in Fraser's Hall October 22. Subject: "The Catholic Church the Great Benefactor of the Colored Race"
"said to be man of good intelligence and a fine public speaker."

October 13, 1891:
Lectured in Fraser's Hall October 21
Subject: "Slavery According to my Own Experience." The following evening he lectured on Catholic missionary work among the negroes. Probably residents of the Equal Rights Settlement

October 23, 1891:
"Reverend A. Tolton from Chicago, who enjoys the distinction of being the only colored priest of the Roman Catholic Church in America lectured in Fraser's Hall Elizabeth Wednesday evening and again on Thursday in connection with the bazaar conducted by the ladies of the Catholic Church."

July 20, 1894:
Tolton "has lost his mind through overwork and is cared for at an asylum in St. Louis."

July 10, 1897:
Tolton "was stricken by heat while attending a sick call and died on Friday."

13 people were also killed by heat in Chicago at the time.

The resemblance of the Elizabeth Historical Society photo and the photo provided by Schoemann, certainly suggests that our image is Tolton. Backed by evidence that Tolton was in Elizabeth while he was a Reverend as shown by the Galena Daily Gazette and our photo which was taken by Kolb, an Elizabeth photographer....it certainly appears that our image is a cabinet card of Reverend Augustus Tolton.

Barbara Mintmire is doing more research which suggests that Tolton was not the first colored priest as the Gazette suggest. Her research suggests he is the second. Either way, he is a special person and we have a special photo of him!

Thank you, Linda Sprecher Schoemann for providing information that lead our researchers on an adventure to new knowledge about Elizabeth and one of its visitors!

06/20/2026

Wonderful opportunity to own your own copy of the history of Elizabeth in the 20th century! So excited to have the author and former native of Elizabeth, David Bishop, coming to Elizabeth to sell his book. 40.00 and you can have your own copy! Limited availability! Copied available Saturday, July 18 at the Elizabeth Business Hub (131 N. Main St.) 9:00-4:00! Get your copy! Go to the Elizabeth Fair Parade and then head to the fairgrounds for a weekend of fun! See you there!

06/20/2026

Good morning and Happy Father's Day weekend! Today's cinematic Saturday feature is the Chicago Great Western North Hanover Station. The North Hanover spur line was a vital lifeline to Hanover because it brought in goods and passengers to and from the community of Hanover. Built in 1906 theHanover Rail company was privately funded in order to link Hanover to the Chicago Great Western railway. Crash of 1951 on the North Hanover line luckily resulted in no deaths and only one injury suffered by the engineer.

This video was posted to YouTube in 2013 by River Ridge High School River Ridge CUSD #210 Wildcats with the assistance of their teacher, Michael Dittmar. Students involved were: Robin Holland, Luke Strack,
Nichole Ambrosia, Michael Pease, and
Rick Mensendike.

interviews were provided by Gerald Speer, Wendell Lewis, Don Schaible and Jim Young

Other information was provided by the Elizabeth Historical Society and Rick Dittmar

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This is an Illinois History Fair entry by River Ridge High School d...

06/18/2026

ALL ABOARD the Elizabeth Public Library Summer Reading Program! Elizabeth Public Library is teaming up with the Elizabeth Historical Society and the Chicago Great Western Museum to provide reading fun to kids on Friday mornings in July starting July 10, 2026. Kids can come and participate in reading and reading activities! Also this year, kids are going to be building their own train cars and participate in other hands on activities! All related around trains of course! If you are interested, parents can sign their kids up at the library! Hope to see you there!

06/16/2026

Lots of news in the May 23, 1984 issue of the Elizabeth Weekly News!
Baseball field being dedicated, students winning awards, college news, new business, student successes! ALL types of ads from businesses no longer in business! Please share your thoughts and memories as you stroll down memory lane this week!

06/15/2026

Lots of beautiful views of the Elizabeth area! If anyone recognizes any of the images, please inform us! Have a great day!

06/14/2026

Come enjoy the BEAUTIFUL Joanne Wand Memorial Garden! It is located by the Chicago Great Western Museum depot! Joanne was a big history buff and a member of the Elizabeth Historical Society! When you are done enjoying the flowers, stop in the depot and visit! Depot is open from 11:00-3:00 today! Candy Stewart is our host, she would be happy to see you!

06/14/2026

So many train layouts to see at the Chicago Great Western Museum depot in Elizabeth Illinois! We are open today from 11:00-3:00! Come and visit! Displays, photos, artifacts, books model trains! We have it all! Come and see it!
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06/13/2026

Elizabeth Historical Society member,
Barb (Wubbel) Mintmire was looking at our FB page and ran across this photo of an unidentified African American. Curious, she did some digging and found a fascinating article about a settlement of African Americans in
Jo Daviess County called the Equal Rights Settlement. Below is the email she sent us regarding her research:

"For some reason, when I opened the museum's FB page today, a March 3, 2024, post about the photographer Kolb came to the surface with this interesting photo of an unidentified African American man, and it caught my attention. I notice he's wearing what appears to be a clerical collar. If it is a clerical collar (and not just a regular starched collar of the day), there is a chance that this man could be Rev. Henry Smith, a preacher of the Primitive Baptist Church and founder of the Equal Rights settlement in Rush Township.

The attached link tells his fascinating story. Find him by doing the CTRL F to search. I think his first mention is on p. 7, image 8 of 18.
https://scholarworks."

https://scholarworks.umass.edu/server/api/core/bitstreams/3425b943-dcf9-4d1a-aace-f20b16527ac8/content

So the image is being reposted along with the link to the article. If this is a photo image of Rev. Henry Smith, the photo now has new life and a new story!