On this day, the Chicago, Indianapolis and Louisville acquired the Chicago & Wabash Valley Railroad. The Chicago and Wabash Valley Railroad was built by Benjamin Gifford, who came to northwest Indiana in 1891. Gifford was also a driving force behind the draining of the vast Kankakee Marsh and turning the land into fertile farmlands. The CI&L operated the line as a branch line until it petitioned the ICC to abandon the line. Very little of the original line remains. Some of the spur serving the Jasper County Co-Op Elevator are original C&WV mainline.
