Built in 1881 in Aurora, IL Original location: Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad, Burlington Northern Railroad Primary use: Staff lounge, conductor’s office, operational duties Other car numbers used: CB&Q 208, BN 11076 Many of the railroads in the United States called the work car at the end of their trains a caboose. The Chicago, Burlington & Quincy Railroad (CB&Q or Burlington) instead used the term “waycar.” This likely originated from the very old passenger cars that had been converted for use as “Way Freight Rider Cars” for the train crew. This term was shortened by Burlington employees to a single word. The waycar was developed as a vehicle to carry crewmen who operated the trains. These men kept train records, operated car switching and braking, and monitored the cars while it was on the main line. Waycars had multiple accommodations and items to allow the crew to work effectively as they traveled many hours up and down the train lines: beds for sleeping, a stove for heating and cooking, benches to sit and stow items away, and more. Crewmen could give a warning about trouble with the freight cars and collect mail bags from their vantage point in the upper-level cupola. To increase train visibility, kerosene marker lights with colored lenses were hung on the back of the waycar. A desk was included for the train conductor to work on his train logs and records. At one time, waycars were permanently assigned to a specific conductor who made the car his home on wheels. The Lisle Park District brought this car to the complex in 1998. All of the original interior items were missing at this time because the waycar had been used as a modern office room. Lisle Heritage Society members have made reproductions of some original components, and museum artifacts are on display to represent a historic piece of railroad equipment and way of life no longer seen in Illinois.
In the 1800s, railroads connected places near and far quickly for the first time. The people who worked for the railroads – in the trains, stations, and yards – needed easy ways to move employees and heavy equipment from place to place. We have a few vehicles that are displayed and stored at the museum at different times of the year in order to preserve them. The tracks in front of you were originally located at Eola (“End of Line, Aurora”), an unincorporated community about 10 miles west of Lisle that held a Burlington Railroad yard. They were set on display by Lisle Heritage Society volunteers. Look for these and other vehicles when you visit the museum.
Built 1874. Original location: present-day BNSF Lisle Station. Primary use: train station, post office, apartment. Our community developed around the Lisle Depot: availability of service for people and materials helped set the stage for present day Lisle. After Lisle’s first 1863 depot building was destroyed by fire, this historic structure served as the train station on the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy (Burlington) Railroad between Chicago and Aurora from 1874 until 1978. It housed Lisle’s United States Post Office from 1874 to 1885, and for some time, a Railway Express office was located in this building. The building was complimented by an outdoor outhouse, cistern, and water well complete with pump. Although the original tin roof was replaced in 1982, much of the original architectural style and interior structure has been preserved. The railroad usage portion of the building includes a ticket office, waiting room and baggage area. For decades, the building served as living quarters for the stationmaster and family. The south end contains a living room, kitchen, and pantry on the first floor. Upstairs are two bedrooms and a storage area to complete the family apartment. The railroad sparked the development of businesses and commerce. Lisle settlement became a major source of dairy and agriculture for the region. By 1912, Lisle was the largest milk stop along the Burlington and passenger travel was becoming increasingly popular. In 1978 the Burlington Northern Railroad donated it for use as a museum to make way for a modern, more practical train station. Volunteers spearheaded a large portion of the exhibit development and renovation tasks to restore it back to its 19th century appearance.
Built 1850s, recreated on site in 2002 Original location: barns in Wisconsin, 200 miles north Current primary use: Blacksmith and wood turning demonstrations and classes This structure displays an important part of the landscape in the 1800s: the local craftsmen who kept communities functioning with their custom handiwork. The Blacksmith was especially vital to a settlement in pioneer days. Among other things, he provided the nails, hinges and other hardware for their homes. It is reported that often when moving to another area, a family would burn their home down to collect the precious nails since wood was readily available but nails might not be. This operational 19th century woodworking and Blacksmith shop demonstrates a business combination that would have been typical of the time period. This structure is made of timber frame construction with wood pegged mortises and tenons from three different barns. A massive double firepot stone hearth (forge) designed and built inside provide the heat necessary to shape and create raw and used materials. The larger bellows is from the Haumesser Blacksmith shop which operated in Lisle on the northwest corner of Ogden Avenue and Main Street in the 1800s, while the smaller was donated by the Aurora Historical Society. Museum visitors have the opportunity to talk with the skilled volunteer craftsmen during museum tours and learn firsthand how materials are reshaped and reused to meet the challenges of the life of early settlers through demonstrations and classes. Exhibits include a substantial amount of sample work which visitors can handle and feel the textures of the wood and heft of hand-wrought iron. If you look closely inside and outside at the museum, you can see the objects whittled from wood and hand-forged by our own Blacksmiths.
"Lisle: A Farm Town" is a rotating outdoor display on the west side of the Netzley/Yender House managed by volunteers from the Lisle Heritage Society and MLSP staff. Please walk through this display to see what’s growing and look at the farm equipment up close. In many ways, Lisle was shaped by farming. Agriculture has been a key industry in Lisle for most of its history. From the days of its earliest European settlers, Lisle’s residents have grown food, raised animals, and benefited from the products of that labor. In the 1830s, farming in Lisle was mainly for living (“Subsistence”): People ran small farms to feed their family. They worked the land to stay alive, thinking more about their own survival than making a profit. This changed with the construction of the Plank Road, which allowed farmers to ship their produce to the towns around Lisle, including Chicago. The focus for many farmers moved from “Subsistence” to “Commercial” farming: Lisle families could earn money from their farm lands. When the railroad was built through town in 1864, Lisle’s farmers could ship more produce and farm animals on the larger train cars. Once paved roads, cars, and trucks became more common and affordable, farmers chose to use these vehicles to send farm products to surrounding communities. They could drive their trucks any time they wanted and did not have to rely on the train’s schedule. Changes in transportation caused Lisle’s town layout and “main street” to change over time, too. The first “main street” in Lisle was the Plank Road (currently Ogden Avenue), with farms created to the north and south of it. Later, shops opened on today’s Front Street because most people visited the Lisle Depot every day to ship and sell their farm products. Businesses started opening on today’s Main Street in the 1930s, just after cars and trucks became more common for shipping items.
This three-seater outhouse was built by the Yender to replace the one built by the Netzley family. An outhouse was a family’s bathroom since indoor plumbing was not common until the 20th century. Andy Yender, who lived in the house as a child before it was donated to the museum, had memorized that the outhouse was exactly 40 steps from the back porch of his farmhouse.
Home and kitchen gardens were very important to families in the 1800s and 1900s: This is where the family raised their fruits, vegetables, and herbs for flavoring foods. The plots were smaller and more manageable than larger farms. Children were tasked with weeding, harvesting the gardens yields, bringing produce inside for washing and meal preparation. Our volunteer-led demonstration garden uses a “four square” design with raised beds. This allows for soil to thaw faster after the winters freeze so that planting can start earlier in the spring. The areas outside the fence grow herbs that would have been used for medicinal purposes and for cooking. They were used fresh, or tied in bunches and hung inside the Summer Kitchen to dry. This design is inspired by gardens used in the Pennsylvania Dutch tradition in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. The Netzley Family immigrated to Lisle from that region and would have brought this farming practice with them. Gardeners of the past were fairly clever when it came to keeping their plants watered – and they still are! See if you can spot some of the ways that our gardeners help our plants to grow.
Built 1858-59 by the Netzley Family Original location: North side of Ogden Ave. between Western Ave. and Yender Ave. Primary use: family home, community church services, home store In 1849, Jacob and Mrs. Netzley with their ten children came from Lancaster County, Pennsylvania and purchased this home. Much of it was destroyed by fire a few years later, so reconstruction and additions were completed in three phases. The Netzleys were professional weavers, weaving carpets and other large textiles, and Jacob was a deacon in the Church of the Brethren. The original section contains a main floor hearth kitchen and two small bedrooms above. The four-square southeast section contains first and second floor bedrooms as well as a large double parlor that was used to hold teas and Church of the Brethren services. The final section completed was the summer kitchen (currently the north end). This is a unique structure: it contains a huge beehive baking oven oven that keeps the fire hot and the room cool and a smokehouse all in one masonry structure attached to the house. The tall windows and columns are characteristic of the Greek Revival style architecture, popular in America in the 1800s and found in older buildings throughout the Chicago region. Floor joist beams under the original kitchen are made of logs with the bark still on them. The outhouse located just north of the house and a “kitchen garden” that the children helped tend to make meals were used for decades. Holes made for bees to keep warm in the winter can still be seen on the outside structure and allowed the garden to be pollinated earlier in the spring season for the family’s food production. George Yender purchased the property in 1910 with his wife, Mary, and they raised four children. The Yenders operated a dairy business then opened a country style grocery store in 1939 on Ogden Avenue across from the home. These businesses were popular and an important part of life for the Yenders because of Lisle’s importance as an agricultural settlement and milk stop for the Burlington Railroad. Andy Yender, born in the bed located on the first floor, and his wife, Viola, helped donate the home to the Lisle Park District in the 1980s to preserve and demonstrate how the cultural heritage of family and idea of “home“ has changed over time.
Hops (Humulus lupulus) is an herb that grows on vines. Different types (“varieties”) can be found all over the world. The plant produces small cones that contain yellow, powdery oil called lupulin. This oil smells citrusy, piney, and bitter depending on the variety of hops. Our hops are the Centennial variety. Hops have been used to help preserve food and added to beer to create different flavors. For hundreds of years, they were used as a medicinal herb thought to soothe many different conditions, such as ear and tooth aches, stomach digestion, and to help people get to sleep like chamomile. People created tonic drinks from the hops cones and flowers. Stuffing your pillowcase with hops also was common. Wasps even use hops! They gather leaves to make their nests. Hops need lots of sun and space to grow. Many hops gardeners will include poles and ropes like these to help them climb. Pick a cone from our crop and open it to see the lupulin – but don’t pick too many! While you’re here, please be respectful to all of our insect friends. Display sponsored by Alter Brewing Co. in Downers Grove, IL
Section completed 1851, fell out of operation late 1850s Original location: Chicago through Lisle to Naperville, roughly along current Ogden Ave. Primary use: tollway road. As Chicago grew into a regional hub for newcomers in the 19th century, the areas outside the city became increasingly important for providing goods, services, and homes. Lisle was becoming an important producer of dairy and other agricultural products, but the trip to and from Chicago was long and exhausting before the railroads. Plank roads were built to facilitate travel to and from the city. These wooden boards were much easier to travel on than dirt roads and muddy riverbanks. By 1851, the Southwest Plank Road extended from Chicago through Lisle and to Naperville on much of present-day Ogden Avenue and Plank Road. People using this avenue could reach the city from here in about one day’s time. Businesses were established near tollgates to allow travelers easy access to food, drink, and rest during their trips. After several years the road proved to be a failure. The boards became slippery when wet, warped, impassable in the winter months, and thieves often stole pieces of the road. The Southwest Plank Road quickly fell into disrepair and lost revenue like Beaubien’s Tavern. Some businesses even moved to other locations in their towns. The newly established continental railroads could transport goods much quicker and without the exhausting trips back and forth to more urban areas. This is a reproduction of what the Plank Roads looked like. The Museums at Lisle Station Park have some of the only original pieces of the Plank Road that still exist.
Built in 1830s Original location: Northwest corner of Ogden Ave. and Fender Rd. Primary use: tollhouse, lodging, food and drink, residence The Beaubien Tavern was originally located on a 106 acre farm that belonged to Richard Sweet. Sweet resided in this building around 1833 after he finished his time as a soldier in Blackhawk War. He traded his property to Mark Beaubien in 1841 in return for The Sauganash building, another historic establishment originally located in Chicago near Fort Dearborn. Comfortably located a day’s journey by wagon from Chicago, the Beaubien Tavern was a popular gathering place and haven for travelers on their way to and from Chicago. Visitors could travel the plank roads, pay for lodging and food, and even rent blankets and pillows. The Tavern’s accommodations included: - a smaller room for men to enjoy beverages and card games - a larger room for women and children to eat and drink tea - second floor bedrooms that served as a hotel for guest to stay the night Business was good for a while, but the plank roads fell into disrepair and out of use. The tavern was sold at a sheriff’s sale in 1859 and used for various purposes until it was moved to the museum complex. Mr. Beaubien was known for being a jolly fellow who was full of fun and frolic. At night he often used his talent with a fiddle to provide musical entertainment for his guests, visitors, and friends which included new settlers and Native Americans. He and his first wife, Monique, had a total of 16 children before she died. He remarried a woman named Elizabeth and the two had seven of their own children. Once he left Lisle, he moved to Kankakee where he lived the rest of his life and passed away in 1881, at the age of 81.
This Tour is a Virtual Museum or Site Tour.
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A cooperative effort of the Lisle Park District, Lisle Heritage Society, and the Village of Lisle, the Museum campus was created in 1978 to provide a home for the community's historic train depot. This tour of the museum complex includes Lisle Depot, Netzley/Yender farmhouse, Beaubien Tavern, and numerous other stops.
