| The depot in Villa Park was built in 1929 by
the Chicago Aurora & Elgin, an elecrtic interurban line running from
downtown to the far western suburbs of Elgin and Aurora. Traffic was very
heavy in the 1920's and 30's with frequent trains of up to eight cars each.
Competition from automobiles proved fatal. In 1957 passenger trains stopped
running. The railroad continued hauling freight two more years, but in 1962
the rails were removed.
The station is owned by the city of Villa Park and is open as a museum. There
are several very nice displays covering local and railroad history. The
right-of-way is now the Illinois Prarie Trail. At least two of the
CA&E carsare preserved at the Illinois Railroad
Museum.
The depot was designed by
Arthur Gerber,
a Chicago architect who designed several mass transit and interurban depots.
His work includes not only Villa Park, but also the
Insull Spanish style stations found on
the North Shore and South Shore lines, and the station in downtown Michigan
City. His design for Villa Park is a very pleasant combination of cut stone,
stucco, and tudor style wooden trim. The station has very large windows,
especially the east end, which was designed to to house a pharmacy.
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