Citizens Celebrate Railroad Days with a Variety of Events

BickerdykeVisitors and Galesburg residents have been out and about around the area all weekend, for the 38th annual Railroad Days.

Rides, and vendors have lined the streets all weekend, and participants have shown up all over town to experience different origins of the city.

One of those origins took place at Hope Cemetery yesterday afternoon, for a history lesson of sorts.

Re-enactors dressed up in period attire to give brief histories of the areas notable founders.

Slyvanus Ferris as played by Rick Welty, explained his role as a proprietor of Galesburg and Knox College during the founding of the community.

“And so in 1835, at the age of 62, the Rev. Gale invited me to be a part of his visionary group of moving to the prairie,” says Ferris. “In fact, the Rev. Gale called this prairie the Mesopotamia of the West. It was a good life here in Galesburg. In fact 25 of my family members moved here from New York. In the year of 1861, I passed away at the age of 88.”

Appearances by the Lincoln’s, a train show, and a number of performances have all taken place over the weekend. Events continue until 5 this afternoon.

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