Vanished History: Train Depot
The Illinois Central Railroad Depot building was a fixture in downtown Dongola. Sadly, this iconic bulding was removed by the railroad in 1971.
Upon its completion in 1856, the Illinois Central Railroad was the longest railroad in the world. Its main line went from Cairo, Illinois, at the southern tip of the state, to Galena, Illinois in the northwest corner.
For many, railroads were the main method of transportation in rural communities much longer than in metropolitan cities. The railroad depot was vital to both the economic and social needs of the community it served.
The depots were strategically placed along the rail to provide a central delivery point where a community's life-sustaining goods could be shipped or delivered by rail. From approximately 1865 to 1920 the depot served as a place where people could come to hear the news of the day, socialize with others, or simply be entertained by the daily arrival and departure of the trains.
The rise of competing forms of transportation in the early to mid–twentieth century eventually all but eliminated the railroad depot as a landmark. Passenger trains and branch lines were abandoned as first the automotive age and then the Great Depression cut into railroad profits.
Does anyone know if this building still exists in another location?
