The Decatur station, also known as the Wabash Railroad Station and Railway Express Agency, is a historic railway station located at 780 East Cerro Gordo Street in Decatur,

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolita ...

. Built in 1901, the station served trains on the

Wabash Railroad The Wabash Railroad was a Class I railroad that operated in the mid-central United States. It served a large area, including track in the states of Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Iowa, Michigan, and Missouri and the province of Ontario. Its primary con ...

, the most economically significant railroad through Decatur. Architect

Theodore Link Theodore C. Link, FAIA, (March 17, 1850 – November 12, 1923) was a German-born American architect and newspaper publisher. He designed buildings for the 1904 World's Fair, Louisiana State University, and the Mississippi State Capitol. Early ...

designed the

Classical Revival Neoclassical architecture is an architectural style produced by the Neoclassical movement that began in the mid-18th century in Italy and France. It became one of the most prominent architectural styles in the Western world. The prevailing style ...

building. Service to the station ended in the 1980s, and it has since been 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 ...

History

The railroad first reached Decatur in 1854, when the Great Western Railroad built a line through the city. Decatur built Union Station, its first railway station, in 1856 to serve this line. By 1901, the Great Western Railroad had consolidated into the Wabash Railroad, and the old Union Station had fallen into disrepair. The railroad built the present station that year at a cost of $70,000; railroad superintendent H. L. Magee considered the new building one of the most impressive on the line. The Wabash Railroad was the only east-west railroad through Decatur, and its passenger and freight services in the city were both busy. 72 daily passenger trains brought travelers to and from the city at the line's peak in 1907, and $350,000 to $400,000 worth of freight was shipped through the station yearly. The railroad was also Decatur's largest employer; as Decatur was a major hub, it kept division offices and a large dispatcher force there as well as employing railroad operators from the city. Passenger service from the station began to decline in the 1920s, though the railroad (which later merged into the

Norfolk & Western The Norfolk and Western Railway , commonly called the N&W, was a US class I railroad, formed by more than 200 railroad mergers between 1838 and 1982. It was headquartered in Roanoke, Virginia, for most of its existence. Its motto was "Precisi ...

) continued service to Decatur until the formation of

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 ...

in 1971. Amtrak attempted to restart service with the '' Illini'' in 1981, but the service only lasted until 1983 and the station closed for good. The station was added to the National Register of Historic Places on February 4, 1994; it is the only remaining historic railroad station in Decatur.

Noteworthy trains

Wabash Railroad trains serving Decatur Station: *''Banner Blue'' (St. Louis - Chicago) *''

Blue Bird The bluebirds are a North American group of medium-sized, mostly insectivorous or omnivorous birds in the order of Passerines in the genus ''Sialia'' of the thrush family (Turdidae). Bluebirds are one of the few thrush genera in the Americas. B ...

'' (St. Louis - Chicago) *'' Wabash Cannon Ball'' (St. Louis - Detroit) In 1964 the Norfolk and Western acquired the Wabash RR. The ''Wabash Cannon Ball'' lasted until the end of N&W passenger train service at the station in 1971. The ''Blue Bird'' was truncated in 1968 to the ''City of Decatur'' (Decatur - Chicago); this train lasted to 1971 as well.

Architecture

St. Louis St. Louis () is the second-largest city in Missouri, United States. It sits near the confluence of the Mississippi and the Missouri Rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a population of 301,578, while the bi-state metropolitan area, which e ...

architect

designed the station in the

style. The station consists of two unconnected parts, built in a similar style from the same materials; the station building itself and the

Railway Express Agency Railway Express Agency (REA), founded as the American Railway Express Agency and later renamed the American Railway Express Inc., was a national package delivery service that operated in the United States from 1918 to 1975. REA arranged trans ...

building. Both buildings are two stories tall and were built from yellow

brick A brick is a type of block used to build walls, pavements and other elements in masonry construction. Properly, the term ''brick'' denotes a block composed of dried clay, but is now also used informally to denote other chemically cured cons ...

and

limestone Limestone ( calcium carbonate ) is a type of carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of . Limestone forms whe ...

with

terra cotta Terracotta, terra cotta, or terra-cotta (; ; ), in its material sense as an earthenware substrate, is a clay-based unglazed or glazed ceramic where the fired body is porous. In applied art, craft, construction, and architecture, terracotta ...

and

sandstone Sandstone is a clastic sedimentary rock composed mainly of sand-sized (0.0625 to 2 mm) silicate grains. Sandstones comprise about 20–25% of all sedimentary rocks. Most sandstone is composed of quartz or feldspar (both silicates) ...

trim. The station's main and east entrances are topped by a

pediment Pediments are gables, usually of a triangular shape. Pediments are placed above the horizontal structure of the lintel, or entablature, if supported by columns. Pediments can contain an overdoor and are usually topped by hood moulds. A pedimen ...

with ornamental

modillion A modillion is an ornate bracket, more horizontal in shape and less imposing than a corbel. They are often seen underneath a cornice which it helps to support. Modillions are more elaborate than dentils (literally translated as small teeth). All ...

s and flanked by Ionic

pilaster In classical architecture Classical architecture usually denotes architecture which is more or less consciously derived from the principles of Greek and Roman architecture of classical antiquity, or sometimes even more specifically, from the ...

s. The station's first-floor windows have arched sandstone frames and sills, and two terra cotta

belt course A belt course, also called a string course or sill course, is a continuous row or layer of stones or brick set in a wall. Set in line with window sills, it helps to make the horizontal line of the sills visually more prominent. Set between the f ...

s circle the building above and below the second floor The corners of the building have limestone

quoin Quoins ( or ) are masonry blocks at the corner of a wall. Some are structural, providing strength for a wall made with inferior stone or rubble, while others merely add aesthetic detail to a corner. According to one 19th century encyclopedia, t ...

References

External links

Decatur Amtrak Station (USA Rail Guide -- Train Web)
{{National Register of Historic Places Railway stations on the National Register of Historic Places in Illinois Neoclassical architecture in Illinois Railway stations in the United States opened in 1901 Buildings and structures in Decatur, Illinois Railway Express Agency National Register of Historic Places in Macon County, Illinois Former Wabash Railroad stations Former Amtrak stations in Illinois Former railway stations in Illinois Railway stations closed in 1971 Railway stations in the United States opened in 1981 Railway stations closed in 1983