Oregon Depot Museum
The year was 1872. Mark Twain was publishing his latest book, Roughing It. "Buffalo Bill" Cody was awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor for serving as a scout in General Sheridan's campaign against the Cheyenne. And in Oregon, IL a wooden-frame train depot was being erected on Collins Ave.

Today a group of interested citizens have been restoring the depot to its former glory. When completed it will be a place where visitors can see and appreciate how the railroad, the depot, the industries, and the people of the Oregon area evolved over the years since the railroad's arrival in 1871.

Those fond of preservation will be interested to know that this is not the first time concerned residents have saved the depot from destruction. The original building was damaged by fire in 1910. The Chicago, Burlington & Quincy Railroad had expressed serious doubts about its replacement. They were even considering eliminating Oregon as a passenger stop altogether when Congressman Frank Lowden stepped in. Congressman Lowden and his wife, Florence, had established their Sinnissippi farm just southeast of Oregon. Not only was Lowden influential, but Florence was the daughter of George Pullman, manufacturer of the popular Pullman Palace cars widely used for passenger service by all of the nation's railroads. Lowden's input weighed heavily in the railroad's ultimate decision to replace the original depot with the current structure, which was completed in 1913.

Over the years, a broad spectrum of celebrities have passed through the Oregon Depot. Some of these include members of the Eagles' Nest Artist Colony, such as prominent sculptor, Lorado Taft; Pulitzer Prize winning author, Hamlin Garland; author, Somerset Maugham; sculptor, Leonard Crunelle; illustrator and author, Dwight Perkins; poet and playwright, Percy Mackaye; early editor of Poetry magazine, Harriet Monroe; first female reporter for the Chicago Tribune, Ella Peattie; first American Nobel laureate in physics, Professor Albert A. Michelson; former mayor of Chicago, Carter Harrison; and former congressman and secretary to Abraham Lincoln, Robert Hitt.

For further information visit:
www.oregondepot.org

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