Fall 24 OP Newsletter

HERITAGE SITES

Additionally, an increase in railroads led to an increase in mail. Before trains, mail delivery in early Illinois settlements was extremely rare. Letters needing to be delivered were entrusted to travelers passing through or to boatmen. Incoming mail was received the same way. Because of this process it was not uncommon for letters to be three to six months old when they reached their destination! This changed when railway post offices were introduced in the 1860s. When rail postal services began rail cars were first only equipped to sort and distribute letters; however, by 1869, all other mail could be sorted and delivered. People living in big cities enjoyed free home delivery of their mail. In contrast, people in rural towns (making up nearly 65% of the American population in 1890) like Orland Park had to make a trip to their local post office, which could be miles away, to collect their mail. American Postmaster General John Wanamaker (1838-1922) thought there should be one person delivering mail in rural communities rather than multiple people coming at once to the post office. There were many rejections to the proposal, especially to the cost of expanding the services to rural communities. However, by 1896, the United States Post Office began offering rural free delivery to rural towns. Within a year of its implementation, there were 44 routes in 29 states. Orland Park implemented this service to its residents on March 1, 1902. By July 1, 1902, rural free delivery was a permanent service. In 1933, according to multiple newspaper articles, the Wabash sought the discontinuation of commuter services between Chicago and Orland Park. This was due to both the growing popularity of the automobile and the devastation of the Great Depression, as many people were no longer able to afford railroad services. These two factors led to a decrease in ridership throughout neighboring communities, which then led to revenue loss for the railroad. Despite the reduction in train use, people from Oak Lawn, Worth, Chicago Ridge, Palos Park and Orland Park protested the discontinuation of service and petitioned the Illinois Commerce Commission. In June 1933, the Commission authorized Wabash to discontinue four out of its ten suburban trains and “to arrange schedules of the remaining trains to meet the needs of the public.”

In 1960 the first train depot built on Union Avenue was torn down. The Village instead built a new station north of 143rd Street and east of Southwest Highway. However, during that same decade, Wabash, St. Louis and Pacific railroad discontinued “long distance” services due to decreasing ridership rates. The train service was scaled back and only ran the north end of the line that operated between Chicago and Orland Park. The train was still based in Decatur and, after travel, would return there during the weekend. During the week, the crew from Decatur often worked day jobs in Chicago and returned to Orland Park for the night, tending to frequent local saloons.

Orland Post Office, 1909. The buggy on the right side of the image has the text “RFD” on the side.

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