MILLSDALE

NAME: Millsdale COUNTY: Will ROADS: 2WD GRID: 2 CLIMATE: Cold with snow in winter. Hot and humid in summer BEST TIME TO VISIT: Anytime of year, but fall or spring may be best.

COMMENTS: No residents. Is next to an industrial site now. Railroad tracks are still there and still used. REMAINS: No buildings, only foundations and some bricks.

Millsdale was a fairly successful rail stop on the Santa Fe line. It had a small stock yard owned by a man named Oscar Mills and he would ship cattle off to Chicago for people. He built a brick factory in 1884. The Post Office opened in 1887. A rural school was just down the road. A few houses surrounded the depot, but the town never really developed beyond that. There was not streed grid layout that I am aware of. The post office closed around 1902. People continued to live in Millsdale and the school remained open for many more years. The property was purchased by the federal government around 1939 for construction of the Joliet Army Ammunition plant. Today the property is owned partially by the government, and partially by Stepan Chemical Company. Submitted by: Matthew Lanoue

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