This Amazing Train Depot in Indiana was Demolished in 1985

Louisville and Nashville Railroad Station, Evansville Indiana

Date added: March 28, 2024 Categories:

The L & N Station was built in 1902 according to the designs of Richard Montfort, chief engineer of the L & N Railroad, and was a compact version of depots erected by the engineer's office in that period from Indianapolis to Birmingham. The lithic facade, generous arches, and richly carved detail place the building squarely within the sphere of Richardsonian Romanesque.

The L & N depot was planned during the decade when rail service finally reached in all four directions from the city. Evansville was strategically situated at the intersection of several rail networks, making it one of the leading rail centers in the Midwest. Increased trade and manufacturing also contributed to the city's growth. With a turn-of-the-century population of sixty thousand, triple the figure at the Close of the Civil War, Evansville counted itself the second-largest city in the state.

The L & N was the most influential among the railroad lines, largely because Evansville had always relied heavily on the north-south traffic between Chicago and New Orleans. The L & N first bought railroad interests in Evansville in 1875 and in 1890 located its switchyards and maintenance shops in nearby Howell (now part of Evansville).

The new passenger depot, highly praised at its completion, replaced an old wooden structure and other facilities no longer adequate to handle the expanding volume of business. A new freight station, demolished in 1974, was built nearby at the same time.

The L & N made an effort to organize the station as a Union Station, although initially it was used only by the L & N and Illinois Central lines. In 1928 the City Plan Commission predicted that a new Union Station would be necessary in 20 to 25 years, and by 1933 Evansville had three passenger stations. But the expected increase in passenger traffic never materialized, and in 1935 when the Chicago and Eastern Illinois railroad closed its own passenger facility all passengers in and out of Evansville were passing through the L & N depot.

Passenger traffic decreased steadily from the 1930s on, picking up only during World War II. All passenger service for Evansville ended in May 1971, when the last passenger train pulled out of the L & N Station.

Unfortunately, the station was demolished in February 1985.

Building Description

Evansville's former Louisville and Nashville passenger station was situated on the extreme western edge of the central business district. The building stands today relatively isolated in an area of mixed-use, nondescript industrial buildings, seedy entertainment outlets, and endless vacant lots. The freight depot and sidings that used to be located south of the passenger station have been removed, and that parcel of land is now occupied by a sand and gravel company.

The building nevertheless still projects a robust dignity characteristic of so many turn-of-the-century rail depots. The main building is composed of three parts, a three-story central block and two-story wings on each side, and a one-story baggage wing perpendicular to the main building extends from its southwest corner. The entire ensemble is faced with rusticated limestone in regular coursing with most ornamental detailing done in dressed or carved limestone.

The station's central block is five bays wide, each bay here, as in the rest of the building, having a paired set of openings. The central block is defined at each end by slightly projecting gabled pavilions, each one bay in width. A central gabled pavilion, slightly higher and in the same plane as the rest of the building, Carries the inscription "L & N" and contains the principal entrance. All three gabled pavilions are emphasized by flanking tourelles.

Three broad arches of dressed stone mark the location of the central lobby on the ground floor, and entrance is gained through the center arch. The other two arches unite pairs of double-hung windows that rest on a dressed stone water table and that are separated by wood columns with foliate capitals. The three arches once contained semicircular stained glass windows that have been placed in storage by the owner. Each arch springs from a foliated belt course; carved faces in the belt course serve as stops for the outer moldings of the arches. Above these three arches is a large scar where a one-story canopy was once attached. Supported by cast-iron columns, it extended over an entrance drive that is now separated from the street by a narrow traffic island. Flanking the three arched openings and located within the two remaining gabled bays are more modest pairs of flat-headed openings.

All five bays of the central block contain pairs of flat-headed windows in the second story, and the diminutive third story features alternating pairs of arched and flat openings. The second and third-story windows of the three center bays are separated by two-story dressed stone columns with foliate capitals, connected by dressed stone spandrels. Stone molding resembling an enriched talon pattern forms a cornice that runs between the gabled bays.

The hipped slate roof of the central block is intersected by the three front gables, a low wood dormer on each end, and two more wood dormers on the west or rear side. A limestone chimney on the south end of the central block marks the location of the building's only fireplace.

The two side wings, at the north and south ends of the central block, are each two stories high and feature flat roofs with a parapet on all but the west or rear side of the building. The south wing is two bays and the north wing is three bays in width and each wing is three bays deep. The wings continue the rhythm of the fenestration found in the central block. The ground floor repeats the broad arches of the main entrance with their paired windows and wood columns, the foliated belt course, and the dressed stone water table. A dressed stone string course at the level of the missing canopy separates the first and second floors. The second story of the wings features smaller sets of paired rusticated arched windows. Above these and just below the parapet is a cornice such as that found on the central block.

Connected and perpendicular to the south wing is a one-story baggage wing, part of the original structure. The broad-hipped roof, limestone body, and stone gable forms imitate those features on the main building, and a tall limestone chimney stands where a kitchen was located. Extending from the west end of the baggage wing is an express room that was constructed in 1910, also of limestone but with a flat roof, and dentil molding decorating the parapet.

In the rear of the main building, the first story is obscured by an attached awning or shed that runs from the north edge of the building to the baggage wing. Supported by cast iron columns, it was possibly an early addition to the building and may have been open at one time, although it is now enclosed by metal panels. Five platforms, two of them covered, once extended from this shed alongside the tracks. Although the rails and platform sheds have vanished, three of the platforms remain to suggest the former layout of the passenger loading area.

The interior of the railroad station featured a general waiting room in the center of the main building. Its most notable features, besides the removed stained glass windows, were a coffered ceiling, arched openings with ornate molded plaster, and some rather ornate woodwork, most of which still remains. A lady's waiting room occupied the north wing and a dining room the south wing. The second and third floors above the main waiting room are suspended from the attic trusses. The upper stories were used primarily as office space. The simple office interiors are decorated only by low-coved ceilings.