A history of Chatsworth,
since 1859
Postcards, papers and photographs of Chatsworth from public archives, woven together by decade. Neighbors fill in the gaps.
The story
from WikipediaRead it all ↗Chatsworth was laid out by Zeno Secor (1809 – 1875) and Cornelia Gilman on June 8, 1859. Both founders were from New York. Secor was a member of the Board of Directors of the company that was building the Peoria and Oquawka Railroad. He was a noted civil engineer and marine engine designer, who was involved with a number of railroads. Secor was later president of the Toledo Peoria and Western Railroad. Secor is best known for building a number of ironclad warships for the Union Navy. Cornelia Gilman was perhaps the person of that name who was the wife of Samuel Gilman, another director of the firm, and the man who gave his name to the nearby town of Gilman. The town of Chatsworth is perhaps named for Chatsworth House, the home of the Duke of Devonshire. Trains were running along the Peoria and Oquawka Railroad before the town was platted. The railroad soon became the Toledo, Peoria and …
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Timeline
built from the dates on the items belowFinish Chatsworth’s story
Most archives stop around 1920. The photos from after that are in family albums, not libraries.
0 of 10 decades since 1900 have photos 🔁Retake an old viewRailroad accident near Chatsworth…, 1887: stand where they stood+15 📦Share a family photoSign in to add one+10Chatsworth, decade by decade
LOCRailroad accident near Chatsworth, Illinois, Aug. 11, 18871887
LOCRailroad accident near Chatsworth, Illinois, Aug. 11, 18871887
LOCChatsworth horror. Full view of the wreck, Aug. 11, 18871887
LOCChatsworth horror--The wreck, looking east, Aug. 11, 18871887
LOCChatsworth horror--Sleeper "Tunis" from the south--Aug. 11,…1887
LOCChatsworth horror--Engine 13 and Mr. Armstrong's private ca…1887
LOCView of the great railroad wreck The most appalling railroa…1887
LOCView of the great railroad wreck The most appalling railroa…1887
LOCView of the great railroad wreck The most appalling railroa…1887
LOCView of the great railroad wreck18871990s
Nothing in Chatsworth is on the National Register yet
That’s true of most small towns. It doesn’t mean Chatsworth has no history, only that no one has written up a nomination. The closest listed place is Thomas A. Beach House in Fairbury, 11.1 miles away.
Chatsworth and the nearest listed places
How a place gets listed
Then & now
No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as Railroad accident near Chatsworth, Illinois, Aug. 11, 1887 (1887) and it appears here side by side.
🔁 Retake this view · +15Stories next door
nearby towns’ historyFrom Wikimedia Commons (3) and the Library of Congress (10). Images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.