Crystal Lake train station deserves national historic registry designation, local commission says

The Crystal Lake Historic Preservation Commission is looking to submit the city’s 110-year-old downtown train depot for consideration to the National Register of Historic Places for the building’s historic and architectural significance.

The station, located at 70 E. Woodstock St., has been in use since it was built in 1914. It has seen military departures and arrivals from both World War I and II, as well as the rise and fall of the terra cotta and ice industries that put Crystal Lake on the map. Commissioners hope a National Register acknowledgment will bring access to preservation programs and maintain the history of Crystal Lake.

Crystal Lake Historic Preservation Commission members Robert Kosin and Robert Wyman have discovered blueprints and documents that identify the depot as the only station standing of three cross-connection passenger stations that existed in Illinois when it was operated by the Chicago North-Western Railway.

“We think it has such a historical significance that needs to be protected,” Wyman said.

The last nomination to the National Register from Crystal Lake was the Palmer House in 1985, Wyman said.

Designed by architect Charles Sumner Frost, the brick building features cove molding, eyebrow vents, 21-feet-long solid wood timbers that hold up the structure, oak woodwork and double-hung windows.

Frost, who is most known for designing Chicago’s Navy Pier, created four similar stations in 1914 in Woodstock, Barrington, Des Plaines and Chicago. Crystal Lake is the one that stands closest to its original form, as the station in Woodstock was moved, the Barrington location was moved and altered, and the Des Plaines and Chicago stations were both demolished, Kosin said.

The Crystal Lake depot was restored in 2004 by Metra for more than $2 million to make the building Americans with Disabilities Act-compliant while keeping its historic integrity. The waiting area was once segregated by gender, and a small freight area is now where Breaking Bread operates.

Wyman has a personal historical connection to the depot. His father, Willis Wyman, left to serve in World War II from the station. He also arrived back home to the depot after being a prisoner of war for 26 months in North Africa.

“Our family waited 26 months until he arrived at that pretty little station, seen stepping off the train through those windows, where we all can stand today,” Wyman said.

Being listed on the National Register does not protect the building, but local historical designation does, Crystal Lake Historic Preservation Commission member Brittany Niequist said. She hopes that if the depot gets nationally recognized, it will be a shoe-in to be locally.

“I hope we continue to be mindful of our history,” she said. “I think we’ve done a good job on preserving our unique history.”

Commissioners hope to “intermingle” Crystal Lake’s history with the future while preserving Crystal Lake’s identity, Wyman said.

“We want to make it feel special when you come here,” Kosin said.