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Oswego museum features program on history of trolley transit this Saturday

About 1910, an interurban trolley on its way from Aurora to Yorkville crosses the trestle over the railroad tracks on its way to the stop at Main and Washington streets in downtown Oswego before continuing its trip. Interurban trolley lines once connected Oswego and other Fox Valley towns with the rest of the U.S. east of the Mississippi River. Learn about that era at 11 a.m. this Saturday, Sept. 13, when the Little White School Museum, 72 Polk Street, Oswego presents “The Fox River Trolleys” by Doug Rundell of the Fox River Trolley Museum. Registration, in advance or at the door is $5, with proceeds benefiting the museum. To register, call 630-554-101

Time was, you could catch the interurban trolley at Main and Washington streets in downtown Oswego and, with inexpensive transfers, ride electric lines all the way east to the Atlantic Coast and all the way west to the Mississippi River.

That era will be brought to life once again at 11 a.m. Saturday when the Little White School Museum, 72 Polk St., Oswego hosts “The Fox River Trolleys” by Doug Rundell.

Register in advance – $5 fee – by calling the Oswegoland Park District at 630-554-1010 or pay at the door the day of the program. Proceeds will benefit the museum.

In 1900, Oswego was linked to the huge network of these lines that was rapidly growing up in the United States. They provided vital transportation links in the era before good roads and economical motor vehicles, but then quickly disappeared when both roads and motor vehicles were perfected.

Doug Rundell is a volunteer at the Fox River Trolley Museum in South Elgin. He will discuss the history of some lines that served Chicago as well as the line that served the Fox River Valley as far south as Yorkville

For more information on the program or on the museum, call them at 630-554-2999, visit their web page, www.littlewhiteschoolmuseum.org, or send them an email at director@littlewhiteschoolmuseum.org.

Judy Harvey

Judy Harvey

News editor for The Herald-News. More than 30 years as a journalist in community news in Will County and the greater Chicago region.