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Cleveland,
Cincinnati, Chicago and St. Louis Railroad Station
1632 Broadway
Street, Mattoon
Built 1916
The National Register listed Cleveland,
Cincinnati, Chicago, and St. Louis Railroad Station (the “Big Four”) in
Mattoon was
demolished in April of 2004 by its owners. The Beaux-Arts style structure,
built for $50,000, served as a railroad
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depot for passenger trains and as an
office building for railroad personnel for almost fifty years. The City of
Mattoon developed around the point of crossing of the Big Four and the
Illinois Central Railroad and for much of its history its economics revolved
around the railroads. After closing as a station in 1964, the depot was used
as a storage facility for many years by a local business. It was purchased
in 1983 with the intent of renovation. Unfortunately, no work was done on
the property since 1985 and it stood vacant and neglected until demolished.
Efforts to save the nearby Illinois Central Railroad depot (on LPCI’s
Ten
Most Endangered Historic Places 2003 list) continue. See
News from the Road
for recent developments.
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