From the "Village of Westchester -- 1925-1975 -- Golden Jubilee", 1976.

A Bit of Westchester History

A Young Community

(Third in a series)

The first elevated train came to Westchester over the Aurora and Elgin Track on October 1, 1926.  Those who worked on the extension of the third rail lived in the Grant N. Britten Camp, a camp which Mr. Britten had built especially for the workmen.

Although the coming of the "El" did facilitate transportation to the Loop, it marked the end of the shuttle car that made connections between Westchester and the Aurora and Elgin Line in Bellwood. Mrs. Stella C. Nelson, one of the original residents of the Village, stated that the car nick-named "Dinky", and that it was a passenger car smaller than an "El" car that ran along a single track from Warren Ave. in Bellwood to the corner of Roosevelt and Wolf Roads.  That made it easy for people to visit any of the five cemeteries in the surrounding areas at that time: Mt. Carmel Cemetery, Our Lady of Sorrows Cemetery, Glen Oak Cemetery, Oak Ridge Cemetery, and Jewish Oak Ridge Cemetery.

Click HERE to continue to part 4 of this series

Last Modified:  02/18/2005