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 Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific RR Depot - Pella, Iowa Posted by:  iconions
N 41° 23.899 W 092° 54.956
15T E 507027 N 4582978
This one-story red brick depot building is located at Main & Oskaloosa Streets in Pella, Iowa.
Waymark Code: WMP0VJ
Location: Iowa, United States
Date Posted: 06/06/2015
Views: 3
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
Is the station/depot currently used for railroad purposes?: No
Is the station/depot open to the public?: Yes
If the station/depot is not being used for railroad purposes, what is it currently used for?:
This well preserved depot is a museum and visitor center for Pella Windows and for their factory tours.
What rail lines does/did the station/depot serve?: Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railroad
Station/Depot Web Site: Not listed
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Visit Instructions:
Please post an original picture of the station/depot taken while you were there. Please also record how you came to be at this station/depot and any interesting information you learned about it while there.
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