{"nrhp_refnum":"80004525","name":"Ardmore Avenue Train Station","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"10 W. Park Ave.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Villa Park","county":"DuPage County","state":"IL","lat":41.88360146800005,"lon":-87.97968252399994,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1980-11-21","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Transportation"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A small one-story brick and fieldstone railway waiting room at 10 West Park Avenue in Villa Park, Du Page County, Illinois, built in 1910 by Ballard and Pottinger beside the Chicago Aurora and Elgin Electric Railway right of way.","why_significant":"The station was built by early Chicago-area community developers to draw city residents to the Ardmore area through free Sunday rail excursions. The excursions helped lead to the creation of the Village of Villa Park in 1917. It is one of only 3 remaining stations out of the original 73 on the line and reflects the role of electric railways in early 20th-century community development.","narrative":"Built in 1910 beside the Chicago Aurora and Elgin Electric Railway, the Ardmore Avenue Station in Villa Park, Illinois, is a one-story waiting room of English design, roughly 15 by 30 feet. It has a concrete foundation, fieldstone columns and watertable, brick walls, a tile roof and a brick chimney. Developers Ballard and Pottinger erected it to attract Chicago residents to land they were selling in the Ardmore area, and they ran free Sunday family excursions by rail with the station as the focal point. The effort succeeded well enough that by 1917 Ardmore joined the neighboring area to form the Village of Villa Park. Passenger service on the railway ran from 1902 to 1957. The station was once one of 73 and is now one of only 3 remaining. It sits next to the Illinois Prairie Path, which follows the old railway right of way. Interior changes are mostly cosmetic, and the structure remains sound.","period_of_significance":"1900-1999 (specific date 1910)","architect_builder":"Ballard & Pottinger","architectural_style":"English design","criteria":[],"status_note":"Occupied and in use as a crisis center by Alcoholics Anonymous; condition fair, with a structurally sound building but deteriorated brickwork, overhang, roof and gutters.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:55:35.248424-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/11/8928/28892811/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_IL/80004525.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/80004525/ed3fe3c91b-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/80004525/ed3fe3c91b-1600.webp","licence":"Public domain","author":"Swimpg at English Wikipedia","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:ArdmoreStation.JPG\" rel=\"noopener\">Swimpg at English Wikipedia</a>, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:ArdmoreStation.JPG"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/28892811","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ardmore_Avenue_station_(Illinois)","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q4788193"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/illinois/dupage-county/ardmore-avenue-train-station-80004525/"}