Battle Creek Menu Selections:

• Battle Creek railroad map ~ 1897

• Debate about Half Interlockers

• DT&M Depot

• Grand Trunk Western Station

• GTW Shops

• Hall (Beech Street) Interlocking Tower

• Main Street Interlocking

• McCamley Street Interlocking Tower

• Michigan Central facilities

• Michigan Railway Depot

• Nichols Interlocking Tower

• Rose Street Interlocking Tower

• Spencer Street Interlocking Tower

Battle Creek Time Line:

• 1845:  MC arrives from the east

• 1846:  MC is extended to Kalamazoo

• 1869:  The GTW is built to Charlotte

• 1870:  The GTW is built to Climax

• 1883:  The M&O builds through town

• 1889:  MC builds a branch to Sturgis

     Battle Creek was founded in 1824 when the local stream was named Battle Creek, and the first house was built in 1832.  A post office was located there in the same year.  The town was platted in 1836 and it was incorporated as a Village in 1850.  It became a City in 1859.

     The first railroad to arrive in Battle Creek was the Michigan Central which arrived in 1845.  It was extended west towards Kalamazoo in 1846.  In 1869, the forerunner to the Grand Trunk Western was built

northeast towards Charlotte, and southwest towards Chicago the following year.  In 1883, the Michigan & Ohio was built from Allegan through town to Dundee (later called the Detroit, Toledo & Milwaukee).  The last steam railroad to arrive in Battle Creek was the Michigan Central branch to Goshen via Sturgis which was built in 1889.

Other Photographs:

• Photo:  First locomotive hoisted in the GTW Battle Creek Shops.

• Photo:  A Michigan Central passenger train navigates flood waters in 1908.

• Photo:  GTW 9027 pulls a freight train across Emmet Street, in 1962.

• Photo:  A streamlined GTW 6405 heads up a passenger train at Battle Creek.

• Photo:  A Michigan Central locomotive travels through downtown Battle Creek in 1915.

Other Information: