Thursday Doors – Chatham Railway Station

Yikes…! It’s Saturday already, not Thursday? Blame it on retired-timekeeping…

This week I am featuring the doors of the old Railway Station located in Chatham, Illinois. Railroad construction and travel were becoming quite significant in the state of Illinois by the mid-19th century. Roads were dirt and became impassably muddy ruts during the rainy seasons of Spring and Autumn. Railroads provided reliable passage all year long. The original station was built in 1852 a short distance from the current station house, and the first passenger train passed through Chatham on September 9, 1852. The route was from Springfield to Alton. The original station house burned down in 1902, and the current one quickly went up that same year. This rail-line would eventually carry passengers and freight trains from Chicago to St. Louis and Kansas City. The station was finally closed in 1972. It was restored to its present condition in 1991. It serves now as the Chatham Railroad Museum.

Street side door

North end of the station and Time Capsule

Time Capsule

West (street) side – 3 doors!

1902 photo of rail-side station

In the early 1900’s, 12 daily passenger trains passed through Chatham, with 2 each direction stopping at this station a day.

Finally, I was able to get a couple pictures of the interior through the windows (the Museum is not open during the week).

 

Thursday Doors is a weekly challenge for door-enlightened souls (even the railroad loving kind) in search of group-inclusiveness. It is the blog-child of Norm 2.0. Want to see more doors from around the globe? Go to his site HERE and click on the blue-rectangle-encased-frog…

Want more info about the station?

This is a good source: Chatham Railroad History