Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific Railroad Depot (Iowa City, Iowa)

The Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railroad Passenger Station is a historic building located in Iowa City, Iowa, United States. Built in 1898 for passenger use, it was the second depot in the city.[2] The first one was built by the Mississippi and Missouri Railroad, a predecessor of the Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railroad (CRI&P), in 1855. This one was built through the efforts of Harry Breene, the local Rock Island agent. W.K. McFarlin, CRI&P's superintendent of maintenance and construction oversaw the building's construction. Architecturally, it is a combination of the Richardsonian Romanesque and Victorian Romanesque. The depot was built to similar designs of stations in Ottawa, Illinois, and Council Bluffs, Iowa.

Iowa City
Former Rock Island Line passenger station
A steam excursion stops at the depot in 2006.
General information
Location115 Wright Street, Iowa City, Iowa 52240
Platforms1
History
Opened1855
Closed1970
Rebuilt1898
Former services
Preceding station Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railroad Following station
Tiffin Main Line Downey
toward Chicago
Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railroad Passenger Station
Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific Railroad Depot (Iowa City, Iowa) is located in Iowa
Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific Railroad Depot (Iowa City, Iowa)
Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific Railroad Depot (Iowa City, Iowa) is located in the United States
Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific Railroad Depot (Iowa City, Iowa)
Location115 Wright St.
Iowa City, Iowa
Coordinates41°39′13″N 91°32′1″W / 41.65361°N 91.53361°W / 41.65361; -91.53361
Arealess than one acre
Built1898
Architectural styleRomanesque
NRHP reference No.82000411[1]
Added to NRHPDecember 10, 1982
The Rocky Mountain Rocket at the station in July of 1963

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]

The depot ceased operations in 1970, although the railroad continued to maintain offices here. In 1982 (two years after the Rock Island ceased operations) it was acquired by a couple of attorneys for their offices. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places the same year. The building sits adjacent to the Iowa Interstate Railroad lines, and the railroad has operated occasional excursion trains that have stopped at the former depot.

References edit

  1. ^ "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. March 13, 2009.
  2. ^ James E. Jacobsen. "Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railroad Passenger Station". National Park Service. Retrieved 2017-05-06. with photos
  3. ^ 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.
  4. ^ "Rock Island Lines, Table 1". Official Guide of the Railways. 102 (12). National Railway Publication Company. May 1970.