Lincoln station (Illinois)

Lincoln

The shelter and disused railroad depot in April 2016.
Location 101 North Chicago Street
Lincoln, IL 62656
United States
Coordinates 40°08′51″N 89°21′49″W / 40.14748°N 89.36354°W / 40.14748; -89.36354Coordinates: 40°08′51″N 89°21′49″W / 40.14748°N 89.36354°W / 40.14748; -89.36354
Owned by State Bank of Lincoln in Trust
Operated by Amtrak
Line(s) Union Pacific Railroad
Platforms 1 side platform
Tracks 1
Construction
Disabled access Yes
Other information
Station code Amtrak code: LCN
Traffic
Passengers (2014) 25,587[1] Increase 0.8%
Services
Preceding station   Amtrak   Following station
toward St. Louis
Lincoln Service
toward Chicago
Texas Eagle
Location
Lincoln
Location within Illinois

Lincoln is an Amtrak train station in Lincoln, Illinois, United States, at Broadway and Chicago Streets. Service is provided by Lincoln Service and the Texas Eagle. The station is a small brick shelter. Adjacent to the shelter is a brick Spanish Mission-style depot building, disused as of 2016, constructed by the former Chicago and Alton Railroad and later used by the Gulf, Mobile and Ohio Railroad. Although not used by Amtrak, the historic depot was renovated for commercial use and was long occupied by a restaurant.[2] Plans were announced in June 2016 to renovate the disused depot for reopening in 2017.[3]

History

Many pioneers of Illinois's Logan County tried to develop towns within the county that could become the county seat and business center for local farmers. Early plats and developments include the Postville Courthouse State Historic Site and the Mount Pulaski Courthouse State Historic Site. A final decision on the county seat was not reached until 1853, when a railroad, the predecessor of what was to become the Chicago & Alton, laid tracks through the county as part of a trunk line from Chicago to St. Louis. Railroad management selected a site along the tracks for development, and named the new town after the railroad's lawyer, Abraham Lincoln.[4]

On August 27, 1853, Mr. Lincoln arrived from Springfield and led a ceremony by the railroad tracks to mark the founding of the new town. The successful lawyer paid a farmer to bring a wagonload of watermelons, which were handed out to the celebrants. Lincoln cut into one of the melons and "christened" the railroad trackside with the juice.[4]

Today

The spot where this celebration took place is the site of the Lincoln, Illinois passenger railroad depot today, and a watermelon monument stands on the south lawn of the depot.[4]

Lincoln's depot primarily serves passengers for Chicago, St. Louis, and points in between, as it did when the railroad was built in 1853.

References

  1. ↑ "Amtrak Fact Sheet, FY2014, State of Illinois" (PDF). Amtrak. November 2014. Retrieved 24 February 2015.
  2. ↑ Great American Stations. Accessed March 27, 2013.
  3. ↑ "Renovation of historic central Illinois depot to begin soon". St. Louis Post-Dispatch. Retrieved 2016-06-15.
  4. 1 2 3 "Lincoln History". Lincoln, Illinois. Retrieved 2010-08-03.
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