Union Depot (Grinnell, Iowa) Explained

Grinnell
Type:Former Rock Island Line passenger rail station
Style:Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railroad
Address:1014 Third Avenue, Grinnell, Iowa 50112
Opened:1863
Closed:May 31, 1970
Rebuilt:1893
Other Services Header:Former services
Nrhp:
Union Depot
Coordinates:41.7411°N -92.7214°W
Area:less than one acre
Built:1893
Embed:yes
Added:December 12, 1976
Refnum:76000805

Union Depot, also known as the Grinnell Union Depot, is an historic building located in Grinnell, Iowa, United States. The Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific Railroad built the first tracks through the area in 1863, and they built a simple frame depot the same year. The Central Railroad of Iowa extended its north–south line to Grinnell nine years later, and their tracks crossed the Rock Island tracks at this location. The Minneapolis and St. Louis Railway eventually acquired the Central Railroad. The old depot became too small and this one replaced it in 1893. It was designed by the Rock Island Lines and built by a local contractor. The one-story, brick structure follows a square plan with a round corner tower at the junction of the two tracks. The tower provided the station agent with a clear view in all directions.[1]

Service included the CRI&P's Corn Belt Rocket and Rocky Mountain Rocket passenger lines.[2] In the trains' final year there, the route was shortened to Chicago to Council Bluffs.[3] Service ended on May 31, 1970; with the end of the Council Bluffs train.[4]

The building now houses a restaurant. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1976.

Notes and References

  1. Web site: William C. Oelke. [{{NRHP url|id=76000805}} Rock Island Lines Passenger Station]. National Park Service. 2016-04-19. with
  2. Web site: A Chicago Hub Railroad of the 1930s - 1940s: The Chicago Rock Island & Pacific Railway (Rock Island). Passenger Railroad Index -1930s-1940s. 2017-05-06. Richard Parks.
  3. Rock Island Lines, Table 1 . Official Guide of the Railways . National Railway Publication Company . 102 . 12 . May 1970.
  4. Paul C. Nelson, University of Iowa, ‘Annals of Iowa,’ ca. 1971, “Rise and Decline of the Rock Island Passenger Train in the 20th Century,” Part II, p. 751 https://pubs.lib.uiowa.edu/annals-of-iowa/article/6748/galley/115521/view/