Great Western Railroad Depot

About this property

Lincoln Depot is located in Springfield, Illinois. It is so called because Abraham Lincoln's bittersweet 1861 Farewell Address to Springfield was delivered here as he boarded the train to Washington D.C. at the beginning of his presidency. The depot was constructed by The Great Western Railroad in 1852. It was damaged by fire in 1857, which required extensive remodeling. The Great Western Railroad merged with several other small railroads to form the Toledo, Wabash, and Western Railroad, which later became the Wabash Railroad. The company moved its Springfield passenger operations to a building located at Tenth and Washington Streets and operated the old building as a freight house. A second story was added in 1900. The Depot was sold when the Wabash consolidated its operations in Decatur, Illinois. The building housed a variety of businesses, and was used as a warehouse or storage space. It was purchased by a local group in the 1960s with the intention of restoring it as a historic site. This group operated the Depot as a museum from 1965 to 1976. Displays included a mix of artifacts, including Lincoln and non-Lincoln items. Fire again damaged the building in December 1968. Arson was suspected in the severely damaged building, but was not proven. Some parts of the structure, dating to Lincoln's time, survived. The building was again restored, and Sangamon State University operated the Depot from 1977 to 1980. The operation was financed through a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities. With the renovations, the University implemented a new purpose for the site. Though still operated as a museum, it was also used as training in site management and interpretation for History majors. The University had to discontinue operations due to lack of funding. Copley Press, owners of the depot and the immediately neighboring State Journal-Register newspaper, took on the management of the building. The building was purchased by local attorney Jon Gray Noll in 2012. After extensive renovation, the Noll Law Office moved its operation to the mezzanine and 2nd floor in March, 2013. The first floor has reopened as a tourist site. It is now operated by the combined efforts of The Noll Law Office and the Lincoln Home National Historic Site. The National Park Service Rangers provide interpretation during the open season. The depot, located just two blocks from the Lincoln Home, was the location from which Lincoln gave his Farewell Address to his fellow Springfield citizens. On a dark, gloomy morning in 1861, citizens of Springfield assembled at the station to see Lincoln off. The office was used as a reception room, and his friends and neighbors filed past, taking his hand. As the train pulled in, he mounted the rear platform. Before his journey to Washington D.C., he delivered an impromptu and emotional farewell address.

Location

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Property data from the National Register of Historic Places, National Park Service (public domain).

Description adapted from Wikipedia under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

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