The Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railroad Passenger Station is a historic building located in

Iowa City, Iowa Iowa City, offically the City of Iowa City is a city in Johnson County, Iowa, United States. It is the home of the University of Iowa and county seat of Johnson County, at the center of the Iowa City Metropolitan Statistical Area. At the tim ...

, United States. Built in 1898 for passenger use, it was the second depot in the city. with The first one was built by the Mississippi and Missouri Railroad, a predecessor of the

Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railroad The Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railroad (CRI&P RW, sometimes called ''Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railway'') was an American Class I railroad. It was also known as the Rock Island Line, or, in its final years, The Rock. At the end ...

(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 Ottawa is a city located at the confluence of the navigable Illinois River and Fox River in LaSalle County, Illinois, United States. The Illinois River is a conduit for river barges and connects Lake Michigan at Chicago, to the Mississippi Ri ...

, and Council Bluffs, Iowa. Service included the CRI&P's ''Corn Belt Rocket'' and ''

Rocky Mountain Rocket The ''Rocky Mountain Rocket'' was a streamlined passenger train of the Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railroad. Rock Island's train numbers 7 and 8 ran between Chicago's LaSalle Street Station and Denver's Union Station and Colorado Springs ...

'' passenger lines. In the trains' final year there, the route was shortened to Chicago to Council Bluffs. 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 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 ...

the same year. The building sits adjacent to the

Iowa Interstate Railroad The Iowa Interstate Railroad is a Class II regional railroad operating in the central United States. The railroad is owned by Railroad Development Corporation of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. History The railroad was formed on November 2, 1984, u ...

lines, and the railroad has operated occasional

excursion trains An excursion train is a chartered train run for a special event or purpose. Examples are trains to major sporting event, trains run for railfans or tourists, and special trains operated by the railway company for employees and prominent customer ...

that have stopped at the former depot.

References

Railway stations in the United States opened in 1898 National Register of Historic Places in Iowa City, Iowa Railway stations on the National Register of Historic Places in Iowa Iowa City Former railway stations in Iowa Transportation buildings and structures in Johnson County, Iowa Railway stations in the United States closed in 1970 {{Iowa-railstation-stub