The Orphan Trains, the largest child migration in United States history, took place from 1854 to 1929 as homeless children from New York ghettos and orphanages came west by rail. Amboy was one stop in this migration, which is now considered the first foster care in the United States. Illinois welcomed more than 10,000 homeless children from 2 months to 17 years old, and these children, sometimes torn from their siblings, helped shape the agricultural economy of Illinois and became part of Illinois families.