Lake Forest-Lake Bluff History Museum

Elliott Donnelley: The Tracks to Town

Elliott Donnelley riding the Stet & Query Central, a small gauge train pulled by a coal-fired steam locomotive which traveled on its own tracks at his Melody Road home.

The aerial view shows the extent of the tracks on Donnelley's Mellody Road property, over a mile long. Route 60 is visible in the foreground.

Elliott Donnelley’s mayoral portrait in City Hall. He served as mayor of Lake Forest from 1954 to 1957.

Chicago Tribune, May 26, 1965.

As mayor of Lake Forest, Elliott Donnelley (1903-1975) expanded Lake Forest’s boundaries. As a local philanthropic leader, he also expanded the horizons of Lake Forest College students and children all around Chicago. He served as vice-chairman of R. R. Donnelley & Sons, his grandfather’s printing firm, for over two decades, while also establishing a railroad model business. And through his miniature steam-powered railroad, he left a memorable mark on the west Lake Forest landscape.

In 1957, as Lake Forest mayor Elliott Donnelley helped facilitate the annexation to Lake Forest of land in Vernon Township south of Everett Road, much of which made up the former Albert Lasker estate. This move was important to the future of the community as the Tri-State Tollway, constructed soon after, became a natural western boundary for Lake Forest.

Elliott Donnelley served as a Lake Forest College Trustee for 33 years. He gave the college funds to build a new library, which opened in 1965. Donnelley also often opened up his railroad for charitable purposes, as at this 1965 fundraiser for the Chicago Youth Centers.