Mont Station

Mont Station. Ronald J. Foster Heritage Trail. In 1892, Nelson Montgomery donated a strip of land for the right-of-way of the St. Louis and Eastern Railway (which later became the Illinois Central). This was the beginning of a small settlement that became known as Mont Station. It had a railroad depot, post office, country store, blacksmith shop, a few houses and a grain elevator. The original wooden elevator, owned by Vailer and Spies, was operated by Zephaniah and Nelson Montgomery. In 1913, a new elevator was built by Valier and Spies out of concrete and it stands to this day. The Montgomery, Kinder, Barnsback and Holliday families were among the earliest settlers to the area., The Montgomery family received nation-wide fame for their stable of horses. Nelson's daughter, Phoebe, was known as an excellent horse woman and won several prizes. Her horse, Joe Joker, set a world record for reinless racing. , A spur off the Illinois Terminal was a connector to the Illinois Central creating a triangle of tracks that became known as the "Lost Three Acres." The Glen Carbon water tower now stands in the Lost Three Acres along with trail parking. This area had a good natural spring. Transients, who often found short-term farm work or a meal in the vicinity, found it a place where they could hop a train in any direction.