{"nrhp_refnum":"02000457","name":"Illinois Central Railroad Passenger Depot","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"111 S. Illinois Ave","address_restricted":false,"city":"Carbondale","county":"Jackson County","state":"IL","lat":37.72857592300005,"lon":-89.21672895599994,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"2002-05-09","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Transportation"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A single-story red brick railroad passenger depot at 111 South Illinois Avenue in the town square of Carbondale, Jackson County, Illinois, built in 1903 by the Illinois Central Railroad and designed by company architect Francis T. Bacon.","why_significant":"The depot is argued to represent the importance of the railroad to Carbondale's growth and to the development of southern Illinois. It connected people and goods in the region to the state and nation, and housed a railway mail division office. It is also one of the few remaining structures from the railroad's era around the Town Square.","narrative":"Built in 1903 for the Illinois Central Railroad, this brick passenger depot sits on the Carbondale town square beside the tracks. Francis T. Bacon, the railroad's architect, designed it with a steep slate roof, metal cresting and rock-faced red brick, blending late 19th-century features with plainer early 20th-century lines. It served as the city's passenger depot until 1981. Over the years the building gained a mail enclosure, a lunchroom and a 1930 baggage room expansion, and its original roof was replaced with asbestos shingles. A restoration finished on the exterior in 1992 brought back natural slate, cresting, beaded wood soffits and the 1903 interior layout. The depot is recognized for its role in transportation. It linked southern Illinois communities to the rest of the country, housed a railway mail division office from 1903, carried students to Southern Illinois Normal University and travelers to the 1904 World's Fair, and provided local jobs. The period of significance is 1903 to 1952.","period_of_significance":"1903-1952","architect_builder":"Bacon, Francis T., Illinois Central Architect","architectural_style":"Late 19th and Early 20th Century American Movements","criteria":["A"],"status_note":"Restored, with exterior work completed in 1992 and the interior returned to its 1903 plan; now used for commerce/business.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:55:37.818002-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/35/8930/28893035/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_IL/02000457.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/02000457/8b01ecd869-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/02000457/8b01ecd869-1600.webp","licence":"Public domain","author":"Nyttend","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:IL_Central_depot_in_Carbondale.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Nyttend</a>, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:IL_Central_depot_in_Carbondale.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/28893035","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carbondale_station_(Illinois_Central_Railroad)","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q16892610"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/illinois/jackson-county/illinois-central-railroad-passenger-depot-02000457/"}