Louisville and Nashville Railroad Station (Evansville, Indiana)

Summary

Louisville and Nashville Railroad Station, also known as L & N Station, was a historic train station located in downtown Evansville, Indiana. It was built in 1902 for the Louisville and Nashville Railroad, and was a Richardsonian Romanesque style rock-faced limestone building. It consisted of a three-story central block with two-story flanking wings, and a one-story baggage wing. It had projecting gabled pavilions and a slate hipped roof.[2]: 2 

Louisville and Nashville Railroad Station
L&N Railroad Station (Evansville, Indiana)
Louisville and Nashville Railroad Station (Evansville, Indiana) is located in Indiana
Louisville and Nashville Railroad Station (Evansville, Indiana)
Louisville and Nashville Railroad Station (Evansville, Indiana) is located in the United States
Louisville and Nashville Railroad Station (Evansville, Indiana)
Location300 Fulton Avenue, Evansville, Indiana
Coordinates37°58′35″N 87°34′55″W / 37.9763°N 87.5819°W / 37.9763; -87.5819
Area17 acres (6.9 ha)
Built1902 (1902)
ArchitectMontfort, Richard
Architectural styleRomanesque, Richardsonian Romanesque
NRHP reference No.79000049[1]
Significant dates
Added to NRHPAugust 24, 1979
Removed from NRHPJune 14, 1985

The station was host to tenant railroads, in addition to the L&N. In 1935 the Chicago and Eastern Illinois Railroad closed its depot and ran its trains to the L&N's station.[3] The Big Four (by this point, fully integrated into the New York Central Railroad) also ran its trains to the station. With the end of Illinois Central passenger trains into its Evansville station in 1941, the L&N station that year became the sole passenger train station in the city that year.[4]

Temporarily, immediately after the Ohio River flood of 1937, the trains serving the station were diverted to the Chicago & Eastern Illinois' deactivated depot.[3]

Named trains edit

In its heyday it served as a significant hub for Chicago & Eastern Illinois Railroad and Louisville and Nashville trains, notably:

Each of these trains had sections originating from St. Louis. Those sections would link at Evansville with their counterpart train sections from Chicago's Dearborn Station and would continue south. Furthermore, a St. Louis-Nashville section of the New Orleans-bound Humming Bird made a stop at the station.[5] Additionally, the station was a mid-point for overnight and day trains on an east-west St. Louis-Evansville-Owensboro-Louisville (Union Station) trains.[6]

Final years edit

Unnamed remnants of the Georgian last served the station in 1971.[7][8] It was demolished February 27, 1985[9]

It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1979 and delisted in 1985.[1]

References edit

  1. ^ a b "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. July 9, 2010.
  2. ^ "Indiana State Historic Architectural and Archaeological Research Database (SHAARD)" (Searchable database). Department of Natural Resources, Division of Historic Preservation and Archaeology. Retrieved September 1, 2016. Note: This includes Nancy J. Long (September 1978). "National Register of Historic Places Inventory Nomination Form: Louisville and Nashville Railroad Station" (PDF). Retrieved September 1, 2016., and Accompanying photographs
  3. ^ a b Evansville Vanderburgh Public Library, "C. & E. I. Depot, Evansville, Ind." https://digital.evpl.org/digital/collection/evapost/id/476/
  4. ^ "Index of Railroad Stations". Official Guide of the Railways. 74 (1). National Railway Publication Company. June 1941.
  5. ^ "Louisville & Nashville, Condensed tables; Tables 7, 10". Official Guide of the Railways. 84 (7). National Railway Publication Company. December 1951.
  6. ^ "Louisville & Nashville, Table 14". Official Guide of the Railways. 78 (12). National Railway Publication Company. May 1946.
  7. ^ "Louisville and Nashville, Tables 1, 4, 5". Official Guide of the Railways. 101 (1). National Railway Publication Company. June 1968.
  8. ^ "Passenger Trains Operating on the Eve of Amtrak" Trains magazine http://ctr.trains.com/~/media/import/files/pdf/f/7/7/passenger_trains_operating_on_the_eve_of_amtrak.pdf
  9. ^ "L&N depot at end of line". Evansville Courier and Press. February 28, 1985. p. 1. Retrieved June 22, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.

External links edit

  • August 1947 L&N timetable
Preceding station Louisville and Nashville Railroad Following station
Mt. Vernon
toward St. Louis
St. LouisNashville North Howell
toward Nashville
St. LouisLouisville McLeansboro
toward Louisville
Preceding station Chicago and Eastern Illinois Railroad Following station
Terminus Main Line Haubstadt
toward Chicago
Preceding station New York Central Railroad Following station
Cynthiana
toward Mt. Carmel
ChicagoCairo
Evansville branch
Terminus
Terminus Evansville, Indianapolis and Terre Haute Railway Daylight