Lafayette station is an

Amtrak The National Railroad Passenger Corporation, Trade name, doing business as Amtrak () , is the national Passenger train, passenger railroad company of the United States. It operates inter-city rail service in 46 of the 48 contiguous United Stat ...

station in

Lafayette, Indiana Lafayette ( , ) is a city in and the county seat of Tippecanoe County, Indiana, United States, located northwest of Indianapolis and southeast of Chicago. West Lafayette, on the other side of the Wabash River, is home to Purdue University, whi ...

, served by the ''

Cardinal Cardinal or The Cardinal may refer to: Animals * Cardinal (bird) or Cardinalidae, a family of North and South American birds **''Cardinalis'', genus of cardinal in the family Cardinalidae **''Cardinalis cardinalis'', or northern cardinal, the ...

''. The current station facility was established in 1994. The Amtrak train previously stopped in the middle of the city's 5th Street, near the former

Monon Railroad The Monon Railroad , also known as the Chicago, Indianapolis, and Louisville Railway from 1897 to 1971, was an American railroad that operated almost entirely within the state of Indiana. The Monon was merged into the Louisville and Nashville Ra ...

depot. The station building was moved to its current location from the southeast corner of 2nd and South streets. It is a

Romanesque Revival Romanesque Revival (or Neo-Romanesque) is a style of building employed beginning in the mid-19th century inspired by the 11th- and 12th-century Romanesque architecture. Unlike the historic Romanesque style, Romanesque Revival buildings tended to ...

style depot built in 1902 by the

Lake Erie and Western Railroad The Lake Erie and Western Railroad was a railroad that operated in Ohio, Indiana and Illinois. The Lake Erie and Western Depot Historic District at Kokomo, Indiana, was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2008. The beginning ...

and Cleveland, Cincinnati, Chicago and St. Louis Railway, as the Big Four Depot. ''Note:'' This includes and Accompanying photographs The station 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 v ...

in 2003.

Significance

The building is an example of early twentieth century commercial architecture. It is one of two such structures in Indiana. It became part of the

New York Central System The New York Central Railroad was a railroad primarily operating in the Great Lakes and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The railroad primarily connected greater New York and Boston in the east with Chicago and St. Louis in the Mid ...

, serving passengers through Lafayette between Cincinnati and Chicago. Lafayette was a major stop on this main artery of transportation for the NYC.Library of Congress, AmericanMemory.LOC.GOV; HABS IND,79-LAFY,3-; Survey number HABS IN-257 Several trains operated through the station in earlier years of Amtrak, examples being the '' Floridian'', ''

James Whitcomb Riley James Whitcomb Riley (October 7, 1849 – July 22, 1916) was an American writer, poet, and best-selling author. During his lifetime he was known as the "Hoosier Poet" and "Children's Poet" for his dialect works and his children's poetry. His ...

'' and the ''

Kentucky Cardinal The ''Kentucky Cardinal'' was a nightly passenger train operated by Amtrak from 1999 to 2003 between Chicago, Illinois, and Louisville, Kentucky, via Indianapolis, Indiana. On the three days that the ''Cardinal (passenger train), Cardinal'' ran ...

.''

References

External links

Lafayette Amtrak Station (USA Rail Guide – Train Web)
Amtrak stations in Indiana National Register of Historic Places in Tippecanoe County, Indiana Railway stations in the United States opened in 1902 Former New York Central Railroad stations Railway stations on the National Register of Historic Places in Indiana Romanesque Revival architecture in Indiana Buildings and structures in Lafayette, Indiana Transportation buildings and structures in Tippecanoe County, Indiana 1902 establishments in Indiana {{TippecanoeCountyIN-NRHP-stub