Jackson, MI: 1873 Michigan Central Depot and Railyard

Depot: (3D Satellite, 10 photos)

Former Railyard: (Satellite)

Greg Bunce shared
Michigan Central Railroad Yards, Jackson, Michigan - unused, date circa 1910.
Dennis DeBruler It appears that Amtrak is using a preserved depot, both interior as well as exterior: https://www.google.com/.../data=!3m8!1e2!3m6...

Street View

Street View

 

Jim Kelling posted
Jackson Michigan (Michigan Central station interior, now an Amtrak station) from 1872.

Bigk Drescher: So far that's my favorite station to get on the Amtrak here in Michigan!

If I'm going to Detroit I park at the station and take the train from there!

William Hakkarinen posted
The Jackson, MI station, one of the oldest continually operating rail stations in the United States, opened to passengers on September 1, 1873. Here's an Amtrak train in 1985.
Thomas Wentzel shared

Gary L. Short posted

What eventually became the Michigan Central Railroad was begun in 1837, and the track reached Jackson by 1841. By the 1870s, multiple other lines served the city including the Jackson, Lansing and Saginaw Railroad, the Fort Wayne, Jackson and Saginaw Railroad, the Grand River Railway, and the Michigan Air Line Railroad. In 1872, the Michigan Central Railroad decided to construct a replacement for its earlier station built in 1841. The new station, named 'Jackson Union Station,' was used as a Union Station, serving all the other lines (namely, the Cincinnati Northern Railroad (1894–1938)) through Jackson except the Lake Shore and Michigan Southern Railway, which was then a major competitor with the Michigan Central, and the Grand Trunk Railway. Construction began in late 1872, and finished in the summer of 1873. Passenger service into Jackson remained high until the coming of the automobile. New York Central service along the Chicago-Detroit-

Buffalo-New York, New York Special and the Wolverine (operating on the same route) made stops at Jackson. Other routes were the Chicago-Detroit Chicago Mercury; a Grand Rapids-Jackson train; and a Jackson-Lansing-Saginaw-Bay City train. Service to Bay City and Saginaw ended in 1959, and in 1964, when I-94 was completed, ridership dropped dramatically. In 1971, Amtrak took over the Detroit-Chicago passenger service through Jackson, which remains the only current service in the station. In 1978, the station underwent a refurbishing inspired by the nation's Bicentennial celebrations. Workers cleaned the brick exterior, reground the terazzo floors and refinished the elaborate wood trim and benches. Artist Leland Beamon created a mural showing the depot in 1904 alongside a modern Turboliner Amtrak train. Also in 1978, a former disgruntled New York Central employee named Rudy Bladel killed three former coworkers at the station. The murder trial led to a U.S. Supreme Court case, Michigan v. Jackson, on the admissibility of confessions. Additional improvements were made in 2008, 2013, and 2018. Photo courtesy of National Register of Historic Places

Rusty Mill shared
[The depot] Has been operating longer than any other in US.

 

Cindy Eufemi Gray posted

Not far from my house and I use the Wolverine often. Beautiful building restored and owned by Amtrak in 1978. 

The Jackson station, one of the oldest continually operating rail stations in the United States, opened to passengers on September 1, 1873. The Michigan Central Railroad (MCRR) had turned to Henry R. Gardner, not an architect but a master builder for the railroads, to create the “grand central station” that stands today, and it served as a Union station for several railroads for many years. In 2002, the depot was placed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Kelly Patrick: That side door was the operators office manned by “ fast eddy” Seiferts

Joe Selepak posted three photos with the comment: "Here's a photos of the coal tower at the Michigan Central yard Jackson Michigan the 1st photo is before it can down the 2nd photo is when it came down and here is the newspaper article about it these are A P. Photos on the 1st photo see the f unit down the track."

1

2

3