GALESBURG, Ill. — The city of Galesburg is recognizing some of its hardworking historical community through four memorials.
The plaques across town honor the families who lived in the city's 'boxcar camps' in the early 1900s. The camps housed Mexican workers who were brought to Galesburg to build the railroads.
Students from Carl Sandburg College have worked with the city and railroad companies for five years to get the plaques placed.
"What our family and other families have been through, it shouldn't be forgotten because they built Galesburg. They built the railroads and that's what sustains Galesburg," student and boxcar family descendant Azaria Foshay said.
Dorothy Pacheco lived in those original boxcars. "They worked hard for pennies. For pennies! And they'd be out there in the cold, taking the ice off the rails so the trains would be able to travel," she recalled.
Pacheco remembers their modest life near the rails. "I remember going from oil lamps to my mother having propane gas, because everything was coal and wood, and then we finally got in electricity," she said.
Despite the hardships, Pacheco said she never felt poor. "I'm very thankful for those days, because it taught me to appreciate and to give," she said while fighting back tears.
Pacheco's family lived in what is now called the Davis Camp along with 21 other families. "We all got along. It was like one big happy family. And it was a different way of life, but a good one," she said.
The four camps and memorials can be found here:
- Davis Camp: 1600 South West Street
- Santa Fe Camp: West Berrien Street
- West Humps Camp: South Henderson Street and County 10
- Tie Plant Camp: Route 41 and Knox Road 1300 North