The Depot and Railroad at Ulah:

The Rock Island and Peoria branch railroad began operating through the area in 1871, and the new town was platted two years later. For several years, it was known as Souder’s station.

When passenger business was at its peak in the late 1800’s and early 1900’s, there were as many as six passenger trains and six freight trains passing through on a daily basis. Most of the passengers went to Peoria or Rock Island , and the fare was 98 cents each way. There was a brisk business on the shorter runs also, such as to Bishop Hill and Cambridge . The county seat traffic was heavy in the years before paved roads, and many of the Kewanee lawyers came to Galva on the Burlington interurban, then transferred to the Rock Island . During Henry County Fair week in Cambridge , the Rock Island would operate extra cars, and the same was true for the Lafayette Fair, and to a lesser degree, for the fair in Wyoming (Galvaland Magazine July-August 1981). The depot was closed in September 1931, at about the time passenger service on the Rock Island was discontinued. In March 1980, the last of the coal trains between Lafayette and the Quad-Cities was discontinued and the 40 miles of right of way between Orion and Toulon were sold in the fall of 1981. Rails were removed along the abandoned Rock Island branch in September 1982 (Galvaland Magazine October-November 1982).

Ulah Depot

All Aboard at Ulah Depot

(Galvaland Magazine March 1978)

Original Photograph belongs to the Willis Johnston Family

The Ulah Depot

(Galvaland Magazine June 1977)

Original Photograph On Display at the Henry County Historical Society Museum

Contributed by Bonnie Wiley

Illinois Ancestors

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BMK