Research Type
RegistrarPerson
Putzier, JenniferDate
Nov 11, 2021Notes
Williams Bay is part of Lake Geneva, and today is known as Williams Bay Beach, and was part of the Chicago and Northwestern Railway line.
From the article: https://atthelakemagazine.com/train-travel-walworth-county/ accessed 11/11/2021
"THE WILLIAMS BAY EXTENSION
By the 1880s, the area’s burgeoning popularity with the wealthier classes of Chicago inspired another extension of the line, this time to Williams Bay. According to Behrens, the Chicago & Northwestern Railroad hoped to connect its train service with steam yacht service at the lakefront in order to provide access to all areas around the lake, not just the village of Lake Geneva itself. The railroad approached the Lake Geneva village council with a proposal to extend the tracks from the depot downtown along the lakefront to a new depot in what is now Library Park, but the village leaders turned them down.
So instead the railroad approached the village of Williams Bay, where they were able to purchase a large tract of land along the lakeshore from a son of the village’s founder, Israel Williams, for just five dollars. They constructed a depot at the lakefront and eventually built two large piers for the use of railroad-owned lake vessels, thereby allowing the Chicago & Northwestern to offer service to all points on the lake. The Williams Bay extension opened on June 1, 1888, and most of its early passengers were wealthy Chicagoans who owned homes on the lake and were met at the pier by their own steam yachts (commercial steamers did not start service until several years later.)
At the time, only one train a day continued on from Lake Geneva to Williams Bay, and this was known as “Redfearn’s Millionaire Mover,” Redfearn being the conductor of the train which famously carried Chicago’s wealthiest citizens. The parlor car of the train featured gilt letters announcing its terminus."
"After 75 years of successful service from Chicago to Williams Bay, the Chicago & Northwestern made the decision to cut the Williams Bay extension. On New Year’s Eve, 1965, the final passenger train pulled into the station at Williams Bay. "