Chillicothe was platted by S.T. McKean in 1834. Most travel was by foot, horseback, and the horse-drawn wagon. Wagons became the prime mover of goods on the “beaten paths” between settlements. The paths were developed by animals, and then natives, and then the eastern white settlers flooding into the Illinois prairie. Steamboats had begun plying their way up and down the Illinois by 1829, which aided in the development of many riverside villages. Travel was tough and was a serious challenge to the march of progress. The pioneers of the new world were, however, a resourceful lot with a long history of meeting challenges.

The term “Mass Transit” had not been coined yet by the mid-1800s in Illinois, but its basic structure was well underway. The Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railroad (C.R.I.P. RR) was completed in 1854 and would become a major component of mass transit. Rapid and dependable railroad service experienced steady growth, and in 1887 the Chicago, Santa Fe, and California Railroad (C.S. & C. RR) completed a track from Chicago to Fort Madison, Iowa, passing about a half mile north of Chillicothe. If you don’t recognize the railroad named C.S. & C. RR, don’t be confused. Back then, Illinois required all railroads to have their business headquarters office located in Illinois. The first and last letters in the company name identify the beginning and ending terminals of the line. Later, the law was rescinded and the name became Atchison, Topeka, and Santa Fe Railroad (ATSF). 

The first mass transit system in Illinois got its start when William B. McKinley, a utility company owner and U.S. Senator in Danville, Illinois, built the Danville Paxton and Northern Railroad to haul coal to his electric plant, the Illinois Power and Light Company (IPL) in 1901. His rail line was extended west to Saint Louis and north across central Illinois, including Peoria. IPL owned most of the rail lines until 1931. 

He established the Illinois Traction System that had passenger cars powered by steam engines, but soon switched to electrically powered units when overhead power lines were erected over the tracks. Illinois Traction Company was the first company to provide parlor cars in cities and sleeping cars on longer, interurban runs. The rapid development of the electric railroad brought many changes in the local system, with several companies buying out their competition and name changes. By 1906, a large part of the system was purchased by the Rock Island RR who used its own tracks in Peoria. Some small units were run as far as Chillicothe but were powered by Rock Island engines.    

Chillicothe business leaders picked up on the idea of the electric railroad by 1916 and began forming the Peoria Chillicothe Electric Railway Company. The plan was to connect to the line in Peoria Heights. In August 1916 the Peoria Chillicothe Electric Railway Co. was granted a 48-year franchise over the lines of the Peoria Railway Company. The Company then determined it would need to issue bonds for $500,000 to fund the operation. In today’s money, that $500,000 would be the same as $87,300,000! In February 1917, Peoria Heights granted a franchise to the company. In January 1918 the Peoria Chillicothe Electric Railway Company was formed with E.A. Mitchell, President; John Lynch, Vice-President; and E.V. Matice, Secretary for three-year terms. 

A search for further information on the Interurban railway failed to find any mention of the company. No incorporation or dissolution of corporation papers were filed in Peoria County. Only one newspaper article concerning the company after 1918 was in October 1920, when the Railway Company filed an objection to granting the White Star Bus Line a Certificate of Convenience and Necessity  

In October 1920, the Railway Company filed an objection to granting the White Star Bus Line a Certificate of Convenience and Necessity. White Star Bus Lines was the Chillicothe Bus Company, started by four Italian immigrants: George Pelini, Joe Coletta, Umberto Busnardo, and Amedeo Guiliani. The four White Star investors pooled $6,000 and sold stock shares for a total of $28,000 to acquire their franchise. Besides the impact of the development of the automobile, the White Star Bus Line was probably the most significant factor in ending the effort to build the Electric Railway.