The Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific Railroad Depot, also known as the Rock Island Depot, is an historic building located in Atlantic, Iowa, United States. The Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific Railroad built the first tracks through the area in 1868. The city of Atlantic was founded at the time of the railroad construction. It grew to become the largest and the most significant community along the Rock Island lines between Des Moines and Council Bluffs.[2] The present depot dates from 1898, and it is not a standard-plan depot for the railroad. The unusual design suggests it is the work of an architect, possibly from Chicago.[2] It was built during a prosperous period for the railroad when it was able to replace its facilities along its mainline. The express freight and baggage building attached to the depot was built at the same time. The passenger depot replaced a frame combination passenger and freight depot a block away.
Atlantic | |||||||||||
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| Former Rock Island Line passenger rail station | |||||||||||
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| General information | |||||||||||
| Location | 102 North Chestnut Street, Atlantic, Iowa 50022 | ||||||||||
| History | |||||||||||
| Opened | 1868 | ||||||||||
| Closed | May 31, 1970 | ||||||||||
| Rebuilt | 1898 | ||||||||||
| Services | |||||||||||
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Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific Railroad Depot | |||||||||||
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| Location | Junction of 1st and Chesnut Sts., Atlantic, Iowa | ||||||||||
| Coordinates | 41°24′36″N 95°0′46″W / 41.41000°N 95.01278°W | ||||||||||
| Built | 1898 | ||||||||||
| Built by | Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific Railroad | ||||||||||
| Architectural style | Renaissance Revival | ||||||||||
| MPS | Advent & Development of Railroads in Iowa MPS | ||||||||||
| NRHP reference No. | 94000087[1] | ||||||||||
| Added to NRHP | February 23, 1994 | ||||||||||
Service included the CRI&P's Corn Belt Rocket and Rocky Mountain Rocket passenger lines.[3] In the trains' final year there, the route was shortened to Chicago to Council Bluffs.[4] Service ended on May 31, 1970; with the end of the Council Bluffs train.[5]
After its use as a depot, the building fell into disrepair before it was restored. It now houses the local chamber of commerce. The building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1994.[1]
References
edit- ^ a b "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. July 9, 2010.
- ^ a b Jan R. Nash. "Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific Railroad Depot" (PDF). National Park Service. Retrieved 2016-02-05.
- ^ Richard Parks. "A Chicago Hub Railroad of the 1930s - 1940s: The Chicago Rock Island & Pacific Railway (Rock Island)". Passenger Railroad Index -1930s-1940s. Retrieved 2017-05-06.
- ^ "Rock Island Lines, Table 1". Official Guide of the Railways. 102 (12). National Railway Publication Company. May 1970.
- ^ Paul C. Nelson, University of Iowa, ‘Annals of Iowa,’ ca. 1971, “Rise and Decline of the Rock Island Passenger Train in the 20th Century,” Part II, p. 751 https://pubs.lib.uiowa.edu/annals-of-iowa/article/6748/galley/115521/view/