The Chicago and Northwestern Railroad Depot is a historic former railroad station in Fond du Lac, Wisconsin. The station is located on the southeast corner of Forest Avenue and Brooke Street. Rail service in Fond du Lac can be traced as far back as 1852, although Fond du Lac was also the namesake of the former Chicago, St. Paul and Fond du Lac Railroad, which existed from 1855 to 1859 before going bankrupt and being acquired by the

Chicago and Northwestern Railway The Chicago and North Western was a Class I railroad in the Midwestern United States. It was also known as the "North Western". The railroad operated more than of track at the turn of the 20th century, and over of track in seven states befor ...

. In 1891 C&NW replaced the original station with the current one. The building's architect was

Charles Sumner Frost Charles Sumner Frost (May 31, 1856 – December 11, 1931) was an American architect. He is best known as the architect of Navy Pier and for designing over 100 buildings for the Chicago and North Western Railway. Biography Born in Lewiston, Main ...

. A near-identical twin station was built, also in 1891, in Dekalb, Illinois. The station served trains such as the ''

Flambeau 400 The ''Flambeau 400'' was a streamlined passenger train operated by the Chicago and North Western Railway between Chicago, Illinois, and Ashland, Wisconsin on Lake Superior, via Green Bay, Wisconsin. It was originally a special service in the summe ...

'' and '' Peninsula 400'' until it was closed in 1975, well after most intercity passenger service in the United States was turned over to

Amtrak The National Railroad Passenger Corporation, doing business as Amtrak () , is the national passenger railroad company of the United States. It operates inter-city rail service in 46 of the 48 contiguous U.S. States and nine cities in Canada ...

in 1971, which never used this station. The Chicago and Northwestern Railroad Depot was added to the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic ...

on August 10, 1990. Today it houses several small shops, and the former right-of-way is a rail trail. An active railroad line exists west of the station, but that line was operated by Soo Line and no longer contains a station nearby.

References

External links

Fond du Lac Train Depot (Facebook)
{{National Register of Historic Places Romanesque Revival architecture in Wisconsin Railway stations in the United States opened in 1891 Fond du Lac, Wisconsin Fond du Lac Railway stations on the National Register of Historic Places in Wisconsin National Register of Historic Places in Fond du Lac County, Wisconsin Former railway stations in Wisconsin