Chicago and Eastern Illinois Railroad Depot
Also known as: Tamms Depot
Why it's listed
Built around 1899 on Front Street in Tamms, Illinois, this railroad depot served the Chicago & Eastern Illinois and the Mobile & Ohio lines, later the Gulf, Mobile & Ohio. The town's founder, Oscar T. Tamm, donated land to bring the railroads through and promote his community. The depot is notable for a sharply curved east wall described as architecturally rare, and for a dispatchers' room where operators of both railroads worked together, with long switch levers rising through the floor from a space below. Freight such as lumber, produce, poultry, livestock, dairy goods and cotton moved through it, and it was a gathering place for residents until passenger service ended in 1955. Boarded up afterward, it was bought by the people of Tamms in 1982 and carefully restored, keeping most original exterior walls and its red tile hipped roof. Today it holds village offices and is the last surviving building from the town's early boom years, with a caboose on the site.
Significance in brief: The nomination argues the depot is the last tangible resource in Tamms from the town's early railroad era, when the railroads and the town's founder, Oscar T. Tamm, drove local growth. It is noted for an unusually curved east wall and for a dispatchers' room where staff of two railroads worked side by side. It was restored by townspeople after the passenger line closed in 1955.
Machine-generated summary. This summary was generated by a language model from the official nomination document and has not been reviewed line by line by an editor. It may contain errors. Check the source document before relying on any detail. Source: nomination document (PDF) · National Archives catalog entry. NRHP reference 86003168, listed November 6, 1986. Summary generated October 2026 (model claude-sonnet-5-5, prompt v1.0-2026-10-29, confidence high).
Key facts
| Address | Front St., Tamms |
|---|---|
| County | Alexander County |
| Listed | November 6, 1986 |
| Reference number | 86003168 |
| Resource type | Building |
| Period of significance | 1900-1936 |
| Areas of significance | Transportation, Exploration/Settlement |
| Level of significance | Local |
| Status (as stated in the nomination) | Restored and in use as Tamms village offices (City Hall, clerk, mayor's office and board room) and a tourist information point; about 97% of the exterior walls and the red tile roof are original. |
| Acreage | 2 |
| Coordinates | 37.23548, -89.26974 (NPS GIS) |
What listing means for this property
For an income-producing building, listing (individually or as a contributing building in a district) is the gateway to the 20% federal rehabilitation tax credit on qualified rehabilitation costs, often stackable with state credits. Work claiming the credit must follow the Secretary of the Interior's Standards and be approved in advance.
Listing does not restrict a private owner acting without federal money or permits; where federal funding or licensing is involved, Section 106 review applies.
General information, not legal or tax advice. Rules change; confirm with your State Historic Preservation Office or a qualified adviser.
Sources and further reading
- National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places database (snapshot May 2026), reference 86003168.
- Nomination form (PDF, National Archives) — catalog entry
- Wikipedia article (used for cross-checking only; text not reproduced here)
- Wikidata Q16901148
- This listing as JSON
Last updated October 2026. Found an error? See the editorial policy for how to report it.