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Articles about Transportation

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Before railroads, stage lines crisscrossed the prairies

 By Bill Kemp. Published on April 1, 2009.
One of the more striking modern day conveniences we take for granted is the ease of long distance travel. Before commercial airlines, c...
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Airship pays visit to downtown Bloomington in 1910

 By Bill Kemp. Published on September 13, 2009.
For Bloomington, the age of aviation arrived on September 14, 1910. On that date, a one-man airship known as the Comet sailed over the ...
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First brick street in U.S. myth endures in Bloomington

 By Bill Kemp. Published on September 30, 2012.
At the southwest corner of the Courthouse Square, near the intersection of Center and Washington streets, stands a historic marker of b...
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Labor leader product of west side railroad shops

 By Bill Kemp. Published on January 10, 2016.
Born and raised on Bloomington’s west side, Patrick Henry Morrissey became a national labor leader in his early thirties. ...
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Oxen the original ‘work horses’ of the prairie

 By Bill Kemp. Published on December 11, 2016.
Before the introduction of draft horses and then steam and gasoline-powered tractors, oxen provided the muscle on pioneer Corn Belt far...
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Extinct passenger pigeon once visitor to Central Illinois

 By Bill Kemp. Published on December 18, 2016.
In 1810, 24-year-old attorney Henry Marie Brackenridge traveled down the Ohio River to Ste. Genevieve, Mo. and what was still known as ...
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WW I freighter ‘Evergreen City’ named for Bloomington

 By Bill Kemp. Published on February 5, 2017.
At the end of World War I, Bloomington citizens were given the honor of having a freighter named for their fair city. The...
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Back to school 1946 meant return to normalcy

 By Bill Kemp. Published on August 27, 2017.
The start of 1946-1947 school year, coming as it did a full year after the end of World War II, was a sign of the nation’s halting retu...
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Beloved ‘Rags’ rode the rails to local fame

 By Bill Kemp. Published on September 10, 2017.
The story of “Rags” is proof that most everyone loves a shaggy dog story, especially those of the literal kind.From 1907 to 1912...
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‘Trolley Days’ raised funds for the underprivileged

 By Bill Kemp. Published on December 4, 2017.
“Let the slogan of the day be, ‘Ride for Charity,’” announced the Jul. 6, 1911 Pantagraph. “Leave the automobile un-cranked and keep th...
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Intrepid Pantagrapher paid visit to Santa’s North Pole

 By Bill Kemp. Published on December 2, 2018.
In 1897, 8-year-old Virginia O’Hanlon famously wrote the New York Sun newspaper to ask if that “jolly old elf” was in fact real. One wo...
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For pioneers, river crossings sometimes matter of life and death

 By Bill Kemp. Published on March 21, 2021.
Of all the hardships faced by pioneers, the danger of crossing swollen rivers and creeks is one of the more difficult for present-day f...
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Electric cars sparked local interest long before Rivian

 By Bill Kemp. Published on February 13, 2022.
The startling success of electric automaker Rivian has shined an international spotlight on Bloomington-Normal. The company’s ever-spra...