Lincoln station (Illinois)

Lincoln
The 1911 railroad depot in April 2016.
Location	101 North Chicago Street Lincoln, IL 62656 United States
Coordinates	40°08′51″N 89°21′49″W / 40.14748°N 89.36354°W / 40.14748; -89.36354Coordinates: 40°08′51″N 89°21′49″W / 40.14748°N 89.36354°W / 40.14748; -89.36354
Owned by	State Bank of Lincoln in Trust
Operated by	Amtrak
Line(s)	Union Pacific Railroad
Platforms	1 side platform
Tracks	1
Construction
Disabled access	Yes
Other information
Station code	Amtrak code: LCN
Traffic
Passengers (2017)	21,896  3.06%
Services
Preceding station   Amtrak   Following station Springfield, IL toward St. Louis Lincoln Service Normal toward Chicago Springfield, IL toward San Antonio or Los Angeles Texas Eagle
Location
Lincoln Location within Illinois

Lincoln is an Amtrak train station in Lincoln, Illinois, United States, at Broadway and Chicago Streets. Service is provided by Lincoln Service and the Texas Eagle. The current station is the rail line's former freight depot, renovated in 2017. Adjacent to the current station structure is a brick Spanish Mission-style depot building, constructed in 1911 by the former Chicago and Alton Railroad and later used by the Gulf, Mobile and Ohio Railroad. Although no longer used by Amtrak, the historic 1911 depot has been renovated for commercial use. During the 1980s and 1990s it served dually as a railroad station and restaurant.

Many pioneers of Illinois's Logan County tried to develop towns within the county that could become the county seat and business center for local farmers. Early plats and developments include the Postville Courthouse State Historic Site and the Mount Pulaski Courthouse State Historic Site. A final decision on the county seat was not reached until 1853, when a railroad, the predecessor of what was to become the Chicago & Alton, laid tracks through the county as part of a trunk line from Chicago to St. Louis. Railroad management selected a site along the tracks for development, and named the new town after the railroad's lawyer, Abraham Lincoln.

On August 27, 1853, Mr. Lincoln arrived from Springfield and led a ceremony by the railroad tracks to mark the founding of the new town. The successful lawyer paid a farmer to bring a wagonload of watermelons, which were handed out to the celebrants. Lincoln cut into one of the melons and "christened" the railroad trackside with the juice.