My Present Past
A genealogical experience
Marseilles, Illinois
The original Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Depot in Marseilles was constructed in 1867. The depot was a
locally significant transportation hub which facilitated the shipment of people and goods to and from Marseilles
along the Rock Island and LaSalle Line, which became the Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railroad. The railroad,
which parallels the Illinois-Michigan Canal from Chicago to Peru, brought an end to passenger service along the
canal due to its success. The small wooden station was replaced in 1917 after citizens in
the city won a 40 year battle with the railroad and the U.S. Circuit Court ordered a new station be built.
The  second station was in operation until 1974 and was sold to a private business owner in 1984.
The present Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Depot in Marseilles was added to the National Register
of Historic Places on November 7, 1995.
Chicago Rock Island & Pacific
Depot in Marseilles, Illinois
Built in 1917
Click on the logo below for the
La Salle County IL Gen website
Edward J Engel was one of the
operators at the original
Chicago Rock Island & Pacific
depot at Marseilles, Illinois
from 1877 to 1878.
The guest book entry on the
right was to his wife,
Sara Ellyn "Sadie" Engel.

They were married on
August 17, 1876 in
Wyanet, Bureau County, Illinois.

Sadie was the daughter of
David T Nichols
Wyanet, Illinois
Lovell Kimball arrived at the area along the Illinois River known as the
Grand Rapids in 1833 from Watertown, New York.
Kimball, aware that the Illinois-Michigan Canal Bill had passed and the canal
would eventually reach the rapids, hired a surveyor to lay out a town.
1877 Past & Present
La Salle County Illinois Pg 328
1877 Past & Present
La Salle County Illinois Pg 341
1877 Past & Present
La Salle County Illinois Pg 329
1877 Past & Present
La Salle County Illinois Pg 340
Kimball called the town Marseilles, under the impression that Marseilles,
France was an industrial center the likes of which he hoped to attain in
Illinois. Marseilles was officially platted on June 3, 1835; the plat was
revised twice for railroad and canal right-of-ways.
In this section you will meet friends and co-workers of Edward and Sadie
Engel when E J was an operator at the Chicago Rock Island & Pacific depot
in Marseilles, Illinois. I have also included the 1877 Past and Present of
La Salle County, Illinois by H F Kett, that includes the section on
Marseilles, Illinois
Ino F Clark                                                      Marseilles, Illinois
New Years Eve                                                 December 31st 1877
1870 Census
Ino Clark                             Marseilles, Illinois
1880 Census
L F Gardner                          Marseilles, Illinois
L F Gardner                                                     Marseilles, Illinois
New Years Eve                                                 December 31st 1877
Levant (L F) Gardner was
a telegraph operator at
the C.R.I. & P. depot in
Marseilles, Illinois
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