Railroads on Bloody Island

Bloody Island, a large sandbar located just off of the Illinoistown riverfront, was little used for anything other than to serve as home to a few people during the first half of the nineteenth century. The Wiggin's Ferry Company had most of its complex on the Illinoistown shore, south of the sandbar. When provisions were made to join the island to Illinoistown, a conflict emerged. Wiggin's Ferry moved its operations to the island which now was partially separated from Illinoistown only by the small Cahokia Creek. The movement of the ferry operations gave Bloody Island an immediate commercial significance. All ferry-dependent services relocated with Wiggin's Ferry.

The few inhabitants of Bloody Island, in conjunction with Wiggin's Ferry who purchased it in 1853, wanted to remain separate of Illinoistown and operate the former island as an independent commercial municipality. Such a venture promised large profits from the control of the riverfront. This struggle between Bloody Island and Illinoistown gained further significance when the railroads began to locate their terminal lines on the former sandbar in the 1850s. Initially the railroads ended their lines on the east side of Cahokia Creek. However, in 1857 Wiggin's Ferry began selling the riverfront to the railroads. The Ohio and Mississippi Railroad was the first to run a terminal line to the island. Soon railroads were dealing for pieces of the limited access. Between railroad mergers, failures, and acquisitions, a flurry of trades and deals took place. By the 1870s railroads with terminal lines running to Bloody Island included the Chicago and Alton, the St. Louis, Alton, and Terre Haute, the Ohio and Mississippi, and the Cairo Short-line.

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