In the fall of 1852, the Rock Island Line hired Farnam to build the railroad. On Feb. 22, 1854, the completion of the railroad to Rock Island was celebrated with a gala dinner in Rock Island.

In 1986 a resident of Eldon, Missouri, called the newly created Rails to Trails Conservancy to ask what it would take to turn the old Rock Island Railroad Line Corridor into a trail. Now, nearly 40 ...