{"nrhp_refnum":"79001888","name":"Oberlin Lake Shore And Michigan Southern Station","other_names":["Oberlin Head Start Center"],"category":"building","location":{"address":"Depot Park","address_restricted":false,"city":"Oberlin","county":"Lorain County","state":"OH","lat":41.28455954100008,"lon":-82.21868251999996,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1979-03-02","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Transportation","Architecture"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A one-story wood frame railroad depot in Depot Park, Oberlin, Lorain County, Ohio, built in 1867 for the Lake Shore and Michigan Southern line. It now serves as a Head Start center.","why_significant":"The nomination calls it a fine, well-preserved example of mid-nineteenth-century railroad architecture that blends early Gothic Revival features with Italianate details. It is described as one of the finest and best preserved depots of its style in Lorain County. It also marks the arrival of passenger rail service that linked Oberlin to Elyria and the wider region.","narrative":"Oberlin's old railroad depot sits in a three-to-four-acre park in a mostly residential part of town, beside the former rail line. Built in 1867, shortly after the Civil War, it is a one-story wood frame building with board and batten siding, a gable roof with broad eaves held up by large carved brackets, and hood moldings over the windows and doors. The design combines early Gothic Revival features with Italianate details. When passenger service opened on the line to Elyria, travel time between the two largest communities in Lorain County dropped from two hours to twenty minutes. The depot housed telegraph, ticket and baggage offices and separate waiting rooms, and for decades it was the main entry point for Oberlin College students, families and businessmen. The last passenger train ran in 1949, and all service ended in 1976. The depot has since been restored on the outside and converted to a Head Start center, and it remains one of the last traces of the railroad in Oberlin.","period_of_significance":"1800-1899","architect_builder":null,"architectural_style":"Blend of early Gothic Revival and Italianate","criteria":[],"status_note":"Reused as a Head Start classroom center; exterior restored, interior partitioned with suspended ceilings; condition listed as good.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:53:12.907003-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_OH/79001888.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/79001888/6d50210d97-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/79001888/6d50210d97-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 3.0","author":"TnrSmith","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Lakeshore_and_MI_Southern_Train_Station_Oberlin_OH.JPG\" rel=\"noopener\">TnrSmith</a>, <a href=\"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0\" rel=\"license noopener\">CC BY-SA 3.0</a>, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Lakeshore_and_MI_Southern_Train_Station_Oberlin_OH.JPG"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/71989855","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oberlin_station","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q15263271"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/ohio/lorain-county/oberlin-lake-shore-and-michigan-southern-station-79001888/"}