William B. McKinley, not to be mistaken for the President of the United States with the same name, started the Interurban in 1901. He was an elected U.S. Senator and was born in Petersburg, Illinois. He started the Interurban in Champaign, Illinois with lines seven miles long and shorter. The Interurban would eventually expand to around 550 miles. McKinley had an interest in electric mechanisms, which sparked the creation of the Interurban ("The Interurban Railway"). This interest originally started with McKinley purchasing his own power plant. He wanted to spread electricity to many Americans. He needed coal to run his plant; however it was not in the immediate vicinity. McKinley decided to create an electric railroad from his plant to a coal mine. As he purchased more and more power plants, he saw the success of the Interurban. He ended up purchasing failed electric railroad tracks around Illinois and soon began his own empire, the Illinois Traction System ("The Electric Railroad: A Legend in Illinois Transportation").
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The Founder
Photograph by Biographical Directory of the United States Congress
A photo of William B. McKinley
A New Innovation
McKinley made the Interurban in a new way, never seen before. The Interurban featured a sleeping car service, where passengers could take an overnight traveling trip to a place, such as St. Louis, Missouri and have the availability to sleep in a bed on the Interurban before the arrival. In addition, McKinley would eventually add air conditioning to provide additional comfort to the customers and a package delivery service, where customers could receive a package within one day. It was very similar to how FedEx is run today, but involved the electric train (The Electric Railroad: A Legend in Illinois Transportation"). In addition, the Interurban provided food for the passengers, such as "bacon, eggs, toast, steak with all the trimmings, beer, whiskey, hot chocolate, or soda pop" (qtd. in Bettendorf). All of these mechanisms influenced the success of the Interurban.
Photograph by Williamsville Boxcar Museum
Workers working in downtown Williamsville in the 1900s.
Williamsville's Business Man
J.F. Prather helped the Interurban expand with other communities, such as Williamsville. In March 1904, he was able to have the Interurban come to Williamsvillle. A store was destroyed for the construction phase and it wasn't until December of 1906, when the Interurban took off in downtown Williamsville ("Illinois Terminal System").