West Liberty station
Historic train station
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
West Liberty station is an historic train station located in West Liberty, Iowa, United States.
West Liberty, Iowa
West Liberty | ||||||||||||||||
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The station building in 2008 | ||||||||||||||||
| General information | ||||||||||||||||
| Location | 405 North Elm St. West Liberty, Iowa | |||||||||||||||
| System | Former Rock Island Line passenger rail station | |||||||||||||||
| History | ||||||||||||||||
| Opened | c. 1860 | |||||||||||||||
| Closed | May 1970 | |||||||||||||||
| Rebuilt | 1897 | |||||||||||||||
| Services | ||||||||||||||||
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Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railroad Passenger Depot | ||||||||||||||||
  Location within Iowa  Location within the United States | ||||||||||||||||
| Location | 405 North Elm St. West Liberty, Iowa | |||||||||||||||
| Coordinates | 41°34′17″N 91°16′04″W | |||||||||||||||
| NRHP reference No. | 100008032 | |||||||||||||||
| Added to NRHP | August 9, 2022 | |||||||||||||||
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History
The Minnesota and Missouri Railroad laid tracks through the area in 1855, bypassing the small settlement of Wapsinonoc. Settlers relocated nearer to the new railroad and the depot at West Liberty was established. The Burlington, Cedar Rapids and Minnesota Railway was built through the town in 1870. Being used for both railroads, the shared depot was commonly called Union station.[1] The modern station building was built in 1897 after the previous depot was destroyed in a fire.[2][3][4] In 1910, 35 daily passenger trains stopped at West Liberty.[3]
Passenger service ceased in May 1970, though the Rock Island continued to utilize the site as field offices.[3] By 1981, the station building had been boarded up as derelict.[5] It was rededicated after restoration in 2001, being converted to a museum. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places on August 9, 2022.[3][6]