Description
The Lincoln Depot, also know as the Great Western Railroad station, was the site of Abraham Lincoln’s extemporaneous farewell address to Springfield on the morning of February 11, 1861, just before he departed for the White House. More than a thousand Springfield residents came to the train station on that gray, dismal morning to see him off.
The original one -story building served central Illinois’ first train tracks, know as the Northern Cross, as a train station from 1852 until 1868; later, it became a freight house. A second story was added in 1900 to accommodate the need for more space due to increased usage of freight trains. The deport was sold by the railroad in the early 1960’s.
Noll Law office bought the depot in 2012, and through the efforts of Pinky Noll, it has been extensively rehabilitated. The first floor now houses a museum and upper floor Noll Law Office. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2014.