This Former Railroad Train Station was Built Using Local Quartzite Stone

Illinois Central Passenger Depot, Sioux Falls South Dakota

Date added: November 20, 2024

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Between six and seven o'clock on December 19^th, 1887, Sioux Falls turned out to celebrate the arrival of its fourth railroad. Officers of the railroad, the mayor and city council, backed by a host of citizens and the Damon Division Band were on hand that evening as the last spike was driven. At that final moment, every whistle in town was turned loose in celebration. The passenger depot was not yet completed, but the local newspaper predicted that when completed it would "be the most slightly and costly on the line west of Chicago." It surely was both expensive and attractive; the local newspaper reported construction costs as totaling $48,000.

The Illinois Central Railroad was not the first to connect Sioux Falls to the outside world; it was the fourth, but neither was it the last. Two more lines reached Sioux Falls before the Depression of 1893, which temporarily ended rail building. A seventh was constructed in the new century. Of all the passenger depots constructed in Sioux Falls during the 19^th century only two were built of local quartzite; The Illinois Central and the Burlington, built in 1884.

Indeed, it is its quartzite stone construction that adds to the depot's architectural importance. In the 1880's, as it grew from a frontier town to a booming city,

Sioux Falls utilized the unlimited, locally available Sioux quartzite stone as a major construction material, which varied in color from purple to pink depending upon the quarry of origin.

While the quartzite lends a richness of texture and color to the depot's appearance, it is its architectural design that sets it apart as a truly distinctive structure. The architect who created the design is unknown, and because the newspapers of the time say little about the design it seems unlikely it was done by a local person. The construction drawing indicates only that the design was approved by L.A. Hill, engineer.

The architectural design is elaborate and complex for a modest-sized passenger depot in a small western city. Careful attention is given to details such as the cast iron supports and bracing of the platform canopy, the smooth cut sloping sills and low segmental arches of the window openings, the slate shingling of the gable tops, the two string courses toward the top of the tower, and finally the parapet that crowns the tower.

The depot has stood empty and in disrepair for several years, and the prospect of its restoration has wide support in the community. It served the city well when railroads were a main form of inter-city transportation.

Building Description

The Illinois Central Railroad Depot, Sioux Falls, Minnehaha County South Dakota, stands approximately two hundred feet north of Eighth Street just east of the Big Sioux River, and currently has no public street serving it directly. The dimensions of the depot are unchanged from when it was constructed in 1887-88. It stands 142 feet long and at its widest, central point is 45 feet wide. The main roof line is 28 feet above the foundation with the central tower extending 2-3 feet higher. It is constructed of solid stone masonry walls to the top of the second-story windows where wood construction continues to the gable peak. The tower is stone masonry throughout and topped by a flat tin roof. Interior walls are also of solid masonry construction.

The depot has an elongated floor plan, and it is a story and a half in height except for the central tower which is a full two stories. At some point in the past (probably in the 1950s) several of the window and door openings were closed with stone masonry matching the depot's facade. Restoration plans call for the removal of the masonry filler material and a reconstruction of the original window and door openings. At an even earlier point in time, a freight dock and overhead canopy were added to the northeast quarter of the exterior facade. Current plans also anticipate the removal of these additions and a restoration of the original exterior appearance. The passenger platform is paved with bricks laid in sand, and while the paving is broken and missing at points, the restoration will also return the platform to its original appearance and dimensions.

Architecturally the depot is best described as Queen Anne. It is symmetrical in shape, but the complex roof line, tower, and low arches oyer windows and door openings provide a total effect that is suggestive of Queen Anne. Local Sioux quartzite with a light purple color is the principal building material while the upper gable ends are wood, covered with slate shingles. The canopy that covers the passenger' platform along the west side of the building is supported by cast iron posts with decorated cast iron bracing at the top. A swirling decoration is cast into the upper portion of the iron supporting posts.

The roof is exceedingly complex with two gable roofs running from east to west on either side of the central tower. Between these two main gable roofs, there is a north-south connecting roof that passes just behind the tower. Jutting out (to the east, the rear) from this connecting roof is a third gable having a sharper angle than those on either side. The single-story portions of the building located at the extreme northern and southern ends of the building have simple, low gable roofs running north and south from the main structure. Finally, there is the low, sloping platform canopy projecting from the depot's west facade.

The interior floor plan emphasizes the cruciform design of the building as a whole. The tower structure protrudes ten feet from the main line of the west facade while an equal projection covered by the middle gable roof is on the east. The tower room contained the ticket office while the rear projection contained the wash rooms. North and south from this central portion of the building were the passenger waiting rooms and beyond them, separated by solid masonry walls were the baggage rooms. Only the tower has a second-story room.

Little remains of original interior decoration and finishing. Numerous interior modifications and the effects of a long-neglected leaking roof are to blame. After the demise of passenger service by the Illinois Central Railroad the depot was converted completely to freight use, and later it was abandoned altogether. The current owners plan to develop attractive and modern office facilities in the depot while retaining and restoring the exterior of the building.