Jackson Train Station - Jackson, MI - Michigan Historical Markers on Waymarking.com

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-Toronto Canadian; 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 service to Toronto ended in 1961. 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. -Jackson Station

Historical Date: 01/01/1841 Description: The Final Ride to Midnight This property originally a freight depot offered a rail ride to freedom on the fastest transportation possible, but it came with a cost. Imagine hiding among the cargo knowing that if you're found you could be arrested and sent back to slavery, or worse. Jackson's freight depot (and original passenger depot 1 1/2 blocks west of here) formed a freedom corridor that enabled many freedom seekers to successfully escape to Detroit and Canada, the ultimate land of freedom. Today, Jackson's rail's legacy is memorialized by this building, the oldest continually operating train station in the country Jackson - Hub of the Underground Railroad During the decades leading up to the American Civil War, Jackson, Michigan was both hub and haven for thousands of slaves escaping through a human network Underground Railroad. The ultimate destination (usually Canada) for slaves on the route varied by slave and guide, but it was always considered "the land of freedom" and was sought by slaves one night, one mile, and one act of kindness at a time. Several community leaders and families in Jackson secretly housed, clothed, fed and reassured runaways, while others supportive of the business of slavery openly hunted and punished escaped slaves or anyone aiding their flight. Some northerners went so far as to capture the runaways and return them to servitude. Not every slave on the Underground Railroad escaped. Parking nearby?: yes D/T ratings: website: [Web Link] Registered Site #: N/A Historical Name: Not listed

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