Kankakee, IL
General information
Location199 South East Avenue
Kankakee, Illinois
United States
Owned byCity of Kankakee
Line(s)CN Chicago Subdivision
Platforms1 side platform
Tracks1
ConnectionsBus transport River Valley Metro
Bus transport SHOW Bus (dial-a-ride)
Other information
StatusRegular stop (Illini/Saluki)
Flag stop (City of New Orleans)
Station codeAmtrak: KKI
History
Opened1898 (1898)
Passengers
FY 202211,135[1] (Amtrak)
Services
Preceding station Amtrak Following station
Champaign–Urbana
toward New Orleans
 City of New Orleans Homewood
toward Chicago
Gilman
toward Carbondale
 Illini and Saluki
Former services
Preceding station Illinois Central Railroad Following station
Otto
toward New Orleans
 Main Line Bradley
toward Chicago
Illinois Central Railroad Depot
Kankakee station is located in Illinois
Kankakee station
Kankakee station is located in the United States
Kankakee station
LocationKankakee, Illinois, USA
Coordinates41°7′9.48″N 87°51′56.16″W / 41.1193000°N 87.8656000°W / 41.1193000; -87.8656000
Built1898
NRHP reference No.00000409
Added to NRHPApril 28, 2000

Kankakee station is an Amtrak intercity train station in Kankakee, Illinois, United States. The station is a regular stop for the Illini and Saluki, and is a flag stop for the City of New Orleans, served only when passengers have tickets to and from the station.

History

The Illinois Central Railroad Company was founded in 1851. By 1853, newly founded Kankakee was connected Chicago, 56 miles (90 km) away. The first train pulled into the station on July 11, 1853. The rail connection reduced the travel time between the two cities from six days by wagon to three hours by rail. It also provided Kankakee with access to industrial resources in the north–south direction; the city was no longer dependent on the east–west Kankakee River. Kankakee was incorporated two years later.[2]

The original station was a small, wood-framed station. However, by the 1890s, it had fallen into disrepair and no longer conformed to city ordinances. The Illinois Central agreed to commission a new train station in 1897, which was completed the next year. The first train arrived at the new station at 7:30 a.m. on January 10, 1898. Frank Lloyd Wright traveled through the station on several occasions while designing two houses in Kankakee, remarking of the new building, "not a style of my choosing but good enough for the community."[2] The city was also served by the New York Central Railroad at another station, with trains such as the James Whitcomb Riley, bound for Cincinnati.

Telephones were installed in 1902, replacing the original telegraph wires. These lines were moved underground in 1911. Rail use declined in the 1930s, coinciding with the Great Depression and the increased use of automobiles. Furthermore, the Kankakee Electric Railway Company, which provided interurban service to the station, went out of business in 1933. The station saw a resurgence in the 1940s during World War II, when personnel training at Chanute Field in Rantoul would come to Kankakee on leisure time. The station has remained in continuous use since 1898.[2]

Historical services

Historically, the station served trains on the Illinois Central's routes going southwest, south and southeast. The last of these, aside from the City of New Orleans, Illini and Saluki was the South Wind.[3]

to St. Louis:

to New Orleans:

to Florida:

Disposition today

The station has been on the National Register of Historic Places since the year 2000.[4] By the late 1980s, the depot had fallen into disrepair. The city purchased the building from the Illinois Central in 1990 and finished a full restoration eight years later. The $1 million project was funded with $750,000 in city funds and private donations.[5] Today, the northern end of the station is home of the Kankakee Railroad Museum.[6]

In Steve Goodman's song "City of New Orleans" (popularized by Arlo Guthrie) the train departs the Kankakee station.

Bus Connections

River Valley Metro: – Routes 1, 7, & 8

References

  1. ↑ "Amtrak Fact Sheet, Fiscal Year 2022: State of Illinois" (PDF). Amtrak. June 2023. Retrieved August 30, 2023.
  2. 1 2 3 Illinois Historic Preservation Agency
  3. ↑ Official Guide of the Railways, December 1957, Illinois Central section
  4. ↑ Kankakee County Listings at the National Register of Historic Places
  5. ↑ Great American Stations. Accessed March 27, 2013.
  6. ↑ "Welcome". Kankakee Railroad Museum. 2011. Retrieved 29 May 2011.

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