Ardmore Avenue Train Station - Villa Park, IL
Posted by: 
adgorn
N 41° 52.974 W 087° 58.854
16T E 418614 N 4637239
Prairie School design by John S. Van Bergen c. 1920 as a depot for the Aurora, Elgin and Chicago Railway. Now used by the Villa Park Chamber of Commerce.
Waymark Code: WM76A7
Location: Illinois, United States
Date Posted: 09/08/2009
Views: 3
Excerpted from (
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What is now Villa Park was once open prairie, criss-crossed by Indian trails. In the mid-1800s, mostly German settlers came looking for good farm land. With increasing settlement came the need for better transportation. This was provided in 1902 by the Aurora, Elgin and Chicago Railway, a double track electric system that eventually stretch from the communities of Aurora & Elgin to the west to Chicago to the east.
Villa Park and Ardmore were adjacent communities along the rail line. However, in order to acquire tax money for community improvements the two subdivisions united in 1914. Villa Park was acknowledged to be the Chicago, Aurora & Elgin's largest commuting customer; the railway was largely responsible for the community's growth. After the opening of Congress Street Expressway (Eisenhower) in the mid-fifties, the Chicago Aurora & Elgin abandoned passenger service in 1957 - a sad event for Villa Park. In the 1960s the track was removed and the roadbed became the Illinois Prairie Path, which extends like a ribbon through the village from east to west. The Ardmore and Villa Park depots were preserved and the path became a 62 mile "Rails to Trails" conversion for biking and walking.
Added to National Register of Historic Places in 1980 - see waymark WM769N.