The snow has melted and it’s muddy now, but when it dries, and if you know where to look, you can still see traces of some camp buildings and features of the former Epworth Park, in Wilderness Park. It was a summer camp run by Methodists from the first years of the last century until 1935, when 10-14 inches of rain fell over six days. Sound familiar? In 2015 when the park flooded we lost […]

 Last week I focused on some history of the Rock Island Trail south of the Penny Bridges, and the proposed connection to Wilderness Park. Here are a few photos I didn’t have last week. Checking rail. Photo courtesy Bengtson Family Archive. The derailment. The Penny Bridges are seen in the background looking North.  Photo courtesy Bengtson Family Archive. We think the structure in the center is the construction of Maude Rousseau School. Photo courtesy Bengtson […]

If you’ve been anywhere near the Penny Bridges lately, you know the trail under them is closed for drainage work. A few of you may remember when the Rock Island trail was a functioning railroad. I do have very dim memories of it since I visited extended family who lived close to the Penny Bridges with a backyard that ended almost at the tracks. I asked my cousin who still lives there what he remembered […]

The standings were shaken up in November with Sarah Knight slipping to fourth and Ryan Patrick moving from sixth to first in the Top Commuter rankings. In the “Most Trips” category, Maria Goller held her spot, but Paul Gebers charged from eighth in October to second in November. In terms of most miles, both the women’s and men’s categories were shuffled.