The Vermilion County Fairgrounds Stone Arch Tunnel, Batestown, Illinois.

Welcome back to another edition of History in Your Own Backyard. I'm Satoli. Today I'm in Illinois where I came across this old tunnel under an abandoned railroad line. Stay tuned and we'll check it out. This stone arch bridge was built in 1901 for the Peoria and Eastern Railway. The rail line was used almost exclusively for grain hauling and the line was last used in the 1990s by Conrail. The bridge spans a seldom used one-lane gravel road and also spans a small creek nothing much left of the railroad tracks above. There's a little creek that flows through the tunnel here and they got it all channeled off to keep the water out of the roadway. There's an old hay wagon in here. Somebody trying to keep their hay dry for the winter time. That's an interesting mark. If you look right across, I think it's just random, it's like a comma in reverse. So this road doesn't see much traffic. I think there's a few campers back here. For the most part it's pretty desolate. A lot of work went into this. It's beautiful. Look at that. I'm always amazed at stone structures like this. The skill and the craftsmanship that went into it. I wonder if that's like sandstone. Look at the marks on this one up here. Oh and you can hear the creek over on this side. How cool is that? Hear it? Beautiful stonework. Also just 50 yards from the Stone Arch Bridge, I found this concrete culvert that possibly carried a driveway back to a clearing in the woods. Thanks for watching another edition of History in Your Own Backyard. And remember, travel slowly and stop often. I'll see you next time.