Whitewater Passenger Depot

Whitewater Passenger Depot. The Whitewater Passenger Depot was built in 1890-91 for the Chicago, Milwaukee, and St. Paul Railroad, later known as the Milwaukee Road. It replaced the original frame depot, which was erected in 1852 when the railroad first came to Whitewater. The old depot was converted into a freight house, which stood next to this building until the late twentieth century., This building's use as a depot came to an end when the railroad terminated its passenger service to Whitewater in November 1951. During the 1960s, the building was home to Walenton's Feed and Garden Supplies store. In 1973, the City of Whitewater purchased the building and leased it to the Whitewater Historical Society for use as a local history museum. The Depot Museum opened to the public in July of 1974., The unusual architectural style of the building is called High Victorian Gothic. Details of this style can be seen in the building's polychromatic red brick and tan stone exterior, and the gothic-influenced decoration on the projecting gables. These details give the building a distinctive appearance that can largely be attributed to the skill of J.T.W. Jennings, the noted Midwestern architect who designed the depot., Caption #1 - Last passenger train leaving Whitewater, November 29, 1951, Caption #2 - Postcard, c.1900. This postcard, showing the depot from trackside, illustrates how little the depot has changed over the years. A renovation project in 2012 restored the building exterior and rehabilitated the interior space to better accommodate the depot's adaptive reuse as a museum. , Caption ##3 - Freight House, photo by Fran Achen, c. 1970. When the passenger depot was completed in 1891, Whitewater's first depot became the railroad's freight house. After being vacant for many years, the building was demolished in 1990., Caption #4 - Depot Gable: Detail from architectural plan by J.T.W. Jennings, July 14, 1890. The builders skillfully executed the architect's original depot design.