Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Passenger Depot--Pella - Pella, Iowa - U.S. National Register of Historic Places on Waymarking.com

The building is in good repair and occupied as a museum for Pella Window company.

Date of Construction: 1905-1906

The Chicago, Rock Island, and Pacific Passenger Depot in Pella, rehabilitated in 1985 to serve as a museum, appears to have been built from a standard Rock Island design. Constructed in 1905-1906 at a cost of $4,596, costs included mechanical systems for the building as well as a dug well, brick platform and cinder platform, and a non-extant coal and oil house. The depot is highly visible to the automobile traveler because it abuts Oskaloosa Street (Highway 163) at a major intersection in Pella. Located in an industrial area of the South Addition of Pella, the surrounding buildings include the Rolscreen Company's corporate headquarters and factory and the Pella Municipal Electric Company.

The depot is rectangular with a bay window on the facade. The facade faces southwest to the railroad tracks which run northwest to southeast. The depot measures approximately 76'x20' and contains 1,224 square feet. The building has a concrete foundation, solid brick walls, and a hipped roof which flares at the eaves. The roof is covered with asbestos shingles. There are two brick chimneys, one near the northwest hip and one near the southeast hip of the depot's roof. Wide over-hanging eaves are supported by large angle braces which have stone bases. The building has a bay window on the facade which pierces the main roof and is covered with a hip roof conforming to the bay's footprint. Between the main roof and the bay roof, there are three inset panels fashioned in brick which echo the window cavities below them. All windows have stone sills. The masonry walls are laid in running bond.

The building has one freight door located on the facade at the southeast. This wooden door is original to the building. The depot has two passenger doors which flank the bay window on the facade. The facade has two additional windows which flank the passenger doors. The rear of the building (which faces the highway) has three paired windows. Each end of the building has one set of paired windows. All windows in the building have double hung sash, 1/1, except the window to the baggage room on southeast end which is fixed. Windows are replacements custom manufactured for the depot by the Rolscreen Company. Fabricated with metal cladding over wood, they are designed to conform to the original windows of the building. The passenger doors are replacements, constructed of oak and appropriate to the building's design. The baggage room double door is, as mentioned, original.

A brick platform stands in front of the depot's facade. This platform, a reconstruction dating from 1985, replicates a brick platform which stood originally next to the depot.

- National Register Application

Street address: Main & Oskaloosa Streets Pella, IA USA 50219 County / Borough / Parish: Marion Year listed: 1991 Historic (Areas of) Significance: Event Periods of significance: 1925-1949, 1900-1924 Historic function: Transportation Current function: Recreation And Culture Privately owned?: yes Hours of operation: From: 9:00 AM To: 5:00 PM Primary Web Site: [Web Link] Secondary Website 1: [Web Link] Season start / Season finish: Not listed Secondary Website 2: Not listed National Historic Landmark Link: Not listed

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