{"nrhp_refnum":"00000409","name":"Illinois Central Railroad Depot","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"199 S. East Ave.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Kankakee","county":"Kankakee County","state":"IL","lat":41.11032765400006,"lon":-87.86577131399997,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"2000-04-28","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Transportation"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A two-story red brick railroad passenger station at 199 South East Avenue in Kankakee, Illinois, built in 1897-1898 to replace an 1853-era passenger station. It has a limestone foundation and a Late Victorian design.","why_significant":"The depot is tied to the Illinois Central Railroad's arrival in Kankakee, which shaped the city's growth, its central business district and its county seat. The excerpt shows the 1897-98 building keeping its original exterior and much of its original interior layout, including labeled railroad offices upstairs. The significance statement and criteria are cut off in the supplied text.","narrative":"Built in 1897 and 1898, this two-story red brick depot at 199 South East Avenue in Kankakee, Illinois, replaced the city's first passenger station of the 1850s. It measures roughly 126 feet long and 36 feet wide and rests on a limestone foundation. Details include polished limestone window sills, soldier-course brick trim, wood double-hung windows and an elliptical leaded-glass window on the east side. A broad roof shelters a platform on which passengers once waited for trains. The station is tied to the Illinois Central Railroad, whose arrival in 1853 helped create Kankakee. The railroad cut travel time to Chicago from days to hours, drew settlers and spurred a business district across East Avenue. The exterior remains largely original, though interiors have been renovated. The building still serves rail passengers with an Amtrak waiting area, and it also holds public offices and a meeting room. Upstairs offices still carry their old railroad labels, such as Dispatcher and Road Master.","period_of_significance":null,"architect_builder":null,"architectural_style":"Late Victorian","criteria":[],"status_note":"Still used as a railroad passenger station with an Amtrak waiting area, public offices, a meeting room and a proposed railroad museum. Interiors were renovated and partly restored, and the roof was changed from slate to asphalt shingles.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:55:37.731395-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/55/8932/28893255/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_IL/00000409.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/00000409/8ce61a52ac-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/00000409/8ce61a52ac-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 2.0","author":"Michael","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Kankakee_Illinois_Central_Railroad_Depot.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Michael</a>, <a href=\"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0\" rel=\"license noopener\">CC BY-SA 2.0</a>, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Kankakee_Illinois_Central_Railroad_Depot.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/28893255","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kankakee_station","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q6363565"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/illinois/kankakee-county/illinois-central-railroad-depot-00000409/"}