On April 25, 1853, the South Side's Grand Crossing neighborhood was the site of an historic transportation first. What was it?

Grand Crossing was the site of what's considered the first U.S. railroad disaster. A collision between the Michigan Central and the Michigan Southern intercity trains killed 22 German emigrants.

John Werner was the first with the right answer. Sorry for the delay in posting the answer -- the Ride has been out sick, but antibiotics put me back in business.