The Grand Trunk Western station was a historic railroad station in

Lansing, Michigan Lansing () is the capital of the U.S. state of Michigan. It is mostly in Ingham County, although portions of the city extend west into Eaton County and north into Clinton County. The 2020 census placed the city's population at 112,644, making ...

. The station was listed as a Michigan State Historic Site in 1978, and it 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 v ...

in 1980.

History

The first rail line through Lansing was established in 1856 when the

Detroit and Milwaukee Railroad Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at ...

constructed a line through the city. This was followed in 1872 by the

Michigan Central Railroad The Michigan Central Railroad (reporting mark MC) was originally incorporated in 1846 to establish rail service between Detroit, Michigan, and St. Joseph, Michigan. The railroad later operated in the states of Michigan, Indiana, and Illinois in ...

and in 1879 by the

Chicago and Grand Trunk Railway The Grand Trunk Western Railroad Company is an American subsidiary of the Canadian National Railway operating in Michigan, Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio. Since a corporate restructuring in 1971, the railroad has been under CN's subsidiary holdi ...

. By the early 1900s there were six separate rail lines through the city. After the Chicago and Grand Trunk Railway reorganized in 1900, they built a series of new depots along their line. When

REO Motor Car Company The REO Motor Car Company was a company based in Lansing, Michigan, which produced automobiles and trucks from 1905 to 1975. At one point, the company also manufactured buses on its truck platforms. Ransom E. Olds was an entrepreneur who founded ...

announced the construction of a new plant along the Grand Trunk line, the railroad decided to construct their new depot near the new REO plant. Grand Trunk commissioned the firm of

Spier & Rohns Spier, Rohns & Gehrke was a noted Detroit, Michigan architectural firm operated by Frederick H. Spier and William C. Rohns, best remembered for designs of churches and railroad stations. These were frequently executed in the Richardson Romanesque s ...

tp design the new depot. Construction on the new depot began in 1902 and was completed late that year. It served as a main depot for all passengers until 1971, when the railroad closed the station. In 1972, it was renovated as a restaurant. The building's exterior remains unchanged.

Gerald R. Ford Gerald Rudolph Ford Jr. ( ; born Leslie Lynch King Jr.; July 14, 1913December 26, 2006) was an American politician who served as the 38th president of the United States from 1974 to 1977. He was the only president never to have been elected ...

, who was from Michigan and the 38th president of the United States, dined here during a campaign tour on May 15, 1976. The building was abandoned in the early 2000s. In 2010, the

Lansing Board of Water & Light The Lansing Board of Water & Light is a publicly owned, municipal utility that provides electricity and water to the residents of the cities of Lansing and East Lansing, Michigan, and the surrounding townships of Delta, Delhi, Meridian and DeWi ...

began construction of a powerplant adjacent to the depot, and included a full restoration of the station in the project.

Description

The Lansing Grand Trunk Western station is a single story, rectangular

Jacobethan The Jacobethan or Jacobean Revival architectural style is the mixed national Renaissance revival style that was made popular in England from the late 1820s, which derived most of its inspiration and its repertory from the English Renaissance (15 ...

style red-brick building on a gray ashlar foundation. It measures 33 feet wide and 107 feet long. The main entrance is housed in a two-story, ten-foot square brick tower which is topped by a crenelated parapet. The roof is covered with red tile, and has overhanging eaves. The window hoods, sills, facings, and gable copings are of Bedford limestone. At one end of the building is a waiting platform, covered with a gable roof supported by wooden posts.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Grand Trunk Western Station Railway stations on the National Register of Historic Places in Michigan Railway stations in the United States opened in 1902 National Register of Historic Places in Lansing, Michigan

Lansing Lansing () is the capital of the U.S. state of Michigan. It is mostly in Ingham County, although portions of the city extend west into Eaton County and north into Clinton County. The 2020 census placed the city's population at 112,644, makin ...

Michigan State Historic Sites in Ingham County Jacobethan architecture Railway stations closed in 1971 Former railway stations in Michigan

History

Description

See also

References