The Batavia Depot Museum is a

museum A museum ( ; plural museums or, rarely, musea) is a building or institution that cares for and displays a collection of artifacts and other objects of artistic, cultural, historical, or scientific importance. Many public museums make thes ...

Batavia Batavia may refer to: Historical places * Batavia (region), a land inhabited by the Batavian people during the Roman Empire, today part of the Netherlands * Batavia, Dutch East Indies, present-day Jakarta, the former capital of the Dutch East In ...

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

that was once the town's primary train station. It was the first of many depots built by the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad. 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 ...

in 1979 as the Chicago, Burlington, and Quincy Railroad Depot.

History

The

Chicago, Burlington, and Quincy Railroad The Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad was a railroad that operated in the Midwestern United States. Commonly referred to as the Burlington Route, the Burlington, or as the Q, it operated extensive trackage in the states of Colorado, Illin ...

(CB&Q) was established in the 1850s to rival the Galena and Chicago Union Railroad (C&GU). The new railroad was constructed due to growing concern that the cities of

and

Aurora An aurora (plural: auroras or aurorae), also commonly known as the polar lights, is a natural light display in Earth's sky, predominantly seen in high-latitude regions (around the Arctic and Antarctic). Auroras display dynamic patterns of bri ...

would have an economic downfall since the C&GU bypassed both settlements. The railroad station in Batavia was the first constructed by the CB&Q, and as such, the company took extra care to make it stand out architecturally. The wood structure stands two stories tall with red, vertical panels. Originally , a four-room extension was added to the ground floor in 1868. The main structure has a

gable A gable is the generally triangular portion of a wall between the edges of intersecting roof pitches. The shape of the gable and how it is detailed depends on the structural system used, which reflects climate, material availability, and aesth ...

roof with Gothic brackets while the extension has a

flat roof A flat roof is a roof which is almost level in contrast to the many types of sloped roofs. The slope of a roof is properly known as its pitch and flat roofs have up to approximately 10°. Flat roofs are an ancient form mostly used in arid c ...

. The station was later abandoned by the CB&Q, who preferred to maintain only a direct route through Aurora. The station was moved to its current location in 1973 in an effort to preserve it. Renovations were made to restore the building to its 1919 appearance (which was likely very similar to the original). The building was placed on a new cinder block foundation. The new lot also had a basement for a furnace to keep the building open during the winter. The Fox River now lies to the building's east. The building was listed on the

on June 6, 1979.

Notes

External links

Batavia Historical Society: Depot Museum
{{authority control Railway stations in the United States opened in 1854 Railway stations on the National Register of Historic Places in Illinois

Batavia, Illinois Batavia () is a city mainly in Kane County and partly in DuPage County in the U.S. state of Illinois. Located in the Chicago metropolitan area, it was founded in 1833 and is the oldest city in Kane County. Per the 2020 census, the population w ...

Buildings and structures in Batavia, Illinois National Register of Historic Places in Kane County, Illinois Railroad museums in Illinois Museums in Kane County, Illinois Former railway stations in Illinois 1854 establishments in Illinois Buildings and structures in Kane County, Illinois