Rails & Rapid Growth
In the 1840s, Savanna’s business owners had limited options for transporting goods. Products could only be shipped by steamboat or hauled by team across the state to Chicago—a slow and costly process.
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Eager to reach broader markets for their grain, livestock, and other products, local settlers welcomed the idea of a railroad. To secure the first rail line, many residents went so far as to mortgage their homes and land to help raise the necessary funds for construction.
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Their efforts paid off when the Racine and Mississippi Railroad announced that Savanna would serve as its western terminal.
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The railroad rails were shipped from Scotland by boat to Racine and then transported by rail to Savanna. Measuring 14 to 15 feet in length, the rails were joined using chair joints, also known as “boot legs.” Early locomotives were wood-burning engines, serviced in a long frame roundhouse with two stalls capable of housing three engines each. The facility employed one machinist and two boilermakers.
Savanna’s first depot and freight house were built near the grain elevator. Fuel wood for the locomotives was harvested from islands west of Savanna, hauled in by teams, and stacked in large piles along the tracks. The first station agent was Dennis Flanagan, who was later promoted to superintendent. He was succeeded by an agent named Tracey.
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At the time, Savanna’s primary industries included two breweries, a distillery, two sawmills, a grist mill, and the grain elevator.
Grain arrived by barge from both north and south and was transferred through the elevator into railcars bound for Milwaukee. From there, it continued by boat to eastern markets or was exported to Europe. Threshing machines arrived in Savanna by rail and were then transferred to barges for shipment upriver to farmers in the northwest.
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In 1868, the rail line was renamed the Western Union Railroad. A new line was built from Sabula to Marion, Iowa, with plans to extend westward to Omaha. However, the Mississippi River posed a major challenge for through traffic. To overcome this obstacle, a car ferry was put into operation, capable of transporting three railcars at a time between Savanna and Sabula.
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During winter months, when the river froze, the railroad drove pilings into the riverbed and laid temporary tracks to allow trains to cross. In the spring, when river navigation resumed, the pilings and tracks had to be removed, forcing the railroad to return to ferry operations.
In 1873, the railroad was finally connected to Chicago and renamed the Chicago, Milwaukee and St. Paul Railroad. The line was also extended west to Omaha, and rail traffic increased so significantly that ferrying railcars across the Mississippi River soon proved too slow and inefficient.
In 1880 the drawbridge across the river was built and from that time on the C.M. and St. Paul railroad became a trunk line. The terminal facilities in Savanna also became very obsolete and inadequate and the old depot was moved. A new freight house was built and a 10-stall roundhouse was also constructed. In the new yard were 18 tracks holding an average of 20 cars each.
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Savanna soon became one of the principal terminals of the C.M. and St. Paul railroad as from here the railroad built and operated trains in all directions.
The line to Omaha brought about the development of the packing industry and traffic in fresh meat and other products that required refrigerations. The ice business in Savanna was a large part of community life and one of the operators was the Robinson Ice Company.
Hundreds of men were employed all winter long to cut and store ice for later use as perishable freight traveled through the yards. After reaching a thickness of 9 to 10 inches, the ice was marked and cut into 22 inch squares, guided down an open trough by men with pike poles or harnessed to a horse and track to reach the moving belt that was located on the riverbank just south of Division street.
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Ice house wagons handling local retail sales were driven right out on the ice for loading. One of those was the Bilhorn and Schmidel Ice House on the southwest corner of Main and Washington. Ice from the river was pushed from the wagon into the chutes that led to the elevator. Then it was raised and stacked layer by layer and insulted with saw dust until the these double walled warehouses were filled. The company handled local sales of ice and in 1915 had over 4,000 tons stored for the season They delivered ice to hotels and other businesses with a cart and a team of two horses.
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In 1885, the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad came to town, purchasing 60 acres below the Milwaukee terminal for a roundhouse and repair shop. Track laying began later in the year and by October of 1886 the lines were open to traffic.
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The new rail line was constructed from Oregon through Savanna to St. Paul (319 miles) and from Fulton to Savanna (16.72 miles). J.M. Barr was the first superintendent as the CBQ was headquarter here for the new lines. A depot, roundhouse, and repair yard were constructed along with nine tracks but that quickly expanded to 20 tracks.
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From 1880 to 1890, Savanna’s pollution grew by over 200 percent as the town went from 1,000 residents to over 3,000 in just 10 years.
With the increased traffic it was necessary to shorten the operation division a few years later and Savanna became the eastern terminal of the newly established La Crosse Division for the CBQ. The La Crosse division was double tracked through Savanna in 1909 and the entire line from Savanna to Minneapolis was eventually doubled line.
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In 1911, the Burlington built a viaduct across the tracks which eventually became part of the Great River Road south to Thomson.
With the increase in passenger traffic, it was necessary to build new depot for each line. In 1911, the passenger station was relocated and a new depot was constructed on the south end of Sixth Street. It officially opened to the public on July 1, 1912. for the Milwaukee, Chicago and St. Paul.
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In 1913, the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy constructed a modern passenger station and office just east of Marquette Park and by 1917 had finished the viaduct on Wacker Road.
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By 1910, the city’s population had reached 3,691 but the next decade would see a 42 precent increase as Savanna grew to 5,237 by 1920. The railroads and the arrival of the U.S. Army had put Savanna on the map as the town’s population now topped Galena by 500 residents.
The C.B & Q depot was built in the late 1880s just west of Main Street alley and north of Division. This 1905 picture shows Frank Zinnel in one of the first cars ever seen in Savanna.
Rails, River, and Rapid Growth
As Savanna transitioned from a river settlement to a rail-connected city, population, industry, and infrastructure expanded rapidly. Steamboat commerce, railroad development, and local enterprise transformed the town into a regional hub for trade, transportation, and community life along the Mississippi River.
Population Boom
By 1847, Savanna’s population had reached nearly 500, prompting construction of a stone schoolhouse at Madison and Third Streets. Among the town’s early leaders was Menard Dupuis, a Black Hawk War veteran and Canadian native who became a successful lumberman, Savanna’s first mayor, and a longtime public servant.
Savanna’s first church was built by Methodists in 1849, and the town’s first newspaper, the Savanna Register, soon followed.
For decades, the Mississippi River remained the primary transportation route until rail service arrived. Growth continued with the construction of the Plum River Bridge in 1855 and the designation of Savanna as a terminal for the Racine & Mississippi Railroad in 1857. The town’s first train arrived July 14, 1865, accelerating development.
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By 1860, the population had grown to 825, with businesses, homes, churches, and schools spreading along Main and Third Streets. Railroad expansion brought major infrastructure, including roundhouses, depots, and warehouses along Commerce Street. City Hall was built in 1873, and Savanna officially became a chartered city the following year.
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One of the most transformative projects was the permanent railroad bridge across the Mississippi, completed in 1880, employing hundreds of workers. By that year, Savanna’s population reached 1,000, and industries expanded to include stockyards, rail mills, ice warehouses, and brewing. The Eagle Brewery, established in 1868, supplied beer throughout northwest Illinois and nearby Iowa.
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Prominent businessman Bothwell Pulford emerged as one of Savanna’s largest investors, constructing multiple Main Street buildings, the Pulford Opera House, and the city’s first electric plant. Hotels such as the Occidental (later European) Hotel reflected the town’s growing prosperity. Education also expanded with the construction of Lincoln School in 1870. By the late 1880s, additional rail lines—including the Burlington—cemented Savanna’s role as a vital rail and river hub, transforming it from a frontier settlement into a thriving Mississippi River city.
