The Lake Front Depot was a

train station A train station, railway station, railroad station or depot is a railway facility where trains stop to load or unload passengers, freight or both. It generally consists of at least one platform, one track and a station building providing ...

Milwaukee, Wisconsin Milwaukee ( ), officially the City of Milwaukee, is both the most populous and most densely populated city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin and the county seat of Milwaukee County. With a population of 577,222 at the 2020 census, Milwaukee i ...

built in 1889–1890 by the

Chicago and North Western Railway The Chicago and North Western was a Class I railroad in the Midwestern United States. It was also known as the "North Western". The railroad operated more than of track at the turn of the 20th century, and over of track in seven states bef ...

(C&NW). It was located near the shore of

Lake Michigan Lake Michigan is one of the five Great Lakes of North America. It is the second-largest of the Great Lakes by volume () and the third-largest by surface area (), after Lake Superior and Lake Huron. To the east, its basin is conjoined with that o ...

at the end of East Wisconsin Avenue, by today's

Milwaukee County War Memorial The Milwaukee County War Memorial is a memorial building located on Lake Michigan in Milwaukee, WI Milwaukee ( ), officially the City of Milwaukee, is both the most populous and most densely populated city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin a ...

. The structure was built with stone in the Romanesque style, and had a tall

clock tower Clock towers are a specific type of structure which house a turret clock and have one or more clock faces on the upper exterior walls. Many clock towers are freestanding structures but they can also adjoin or be located on top of another buildi ...

which reached high. The depot cost $200,000 to build at the time, and eventually served 98 trains a day. Chicago and North Western owned the depot until 1964 when

Milwaukee County Milwaukee County is located in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. At the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 939,489, down from 947,735 in 2010. It is both the most populous and most densely populated county in Wisconsin, and th ...

bought the structure and surrounding land for $7 million, with the intent to use the land for a freeway. C&NW continued to use the depot until May 15, 1966 when trains were moved to the new Union Station (now the

Milwaukee Intermodal Station Milwaukee Intermodal Station is the main intercity bus and train station in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, located downtown. The station is served by Amtrak's ''Empire Builder'' and ''Hiawatha Service'' as well as bus companies Coach USA - Wisconsin Coac ...

) after it was built by the Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul and Pacific Railroad (Milwaukee Road). The Milwaukee Road had itself vacated its old

Everett Street Depot Everett Street Station, also called Milwaukee Union Station, was a railway station located in downtown Milwaukee, Wisconsin, built by the Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul and Pacific Railroad (CMStP&P), commonly known as the Milwaukee Road. The stati ...

the previous year. The Lake Front Depot lasted two more years until 1968. Some efforts were made to save the building from being torn down, but they were unable to raise the needed money. Estimates ranged from $325,000 to restore the structure to $575,000 to move it to another location. Many of the C&NW's "''400''" trains served this station starting in 1935. In the early days of the ''

Twin Cities 400 The ''400''Chicago & North Western Railway Route of the "400" The Streamliners and the Challengers ime Table Rand McNally, January 15, 1939. Chicago, IL (later named the ''Twin Cities 400''Chicago & North Western Railway Through Passenger Schedul ...

'', the

steam locomotive A steam locomotive is a locomotive that provides the force to move itself and other vehicles by means of the expansion of steam. It is fuelled by burning combustible material (usually coal, oil or, rarely, wood) to heat water in the loco ...

s which pulled the train were exchanged at the Milwaukee station. The engines ran at such high speeds on the route from

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = List of sovereign states, Count ...

Minneapolis–Saint Paul Minneapolis–Saint Paul is a metropolitan area in the Upper Midwest, Upper Midwestern United States centered around the confluence of the Mississippi River, Mississippi, Minnesota River, Minnesota and St. Croix River (Wisconsin–Minnesota) ...

that some components in the drivetrain couldn't withstand the trip. The railroad eventually got the exchange process down to a very quick five minutes. Other trains to serve the depot included the ''

Flambeau 400 The ''Flambeau 400'' was a streamlined passenger train operated by the Chicago and North Western Railway between Chicago, Illinois, and Ashland, Wisconsin on Lake Superior, via Green Bay, Wisconsin. It was originally a special service in the summ ...

'', ''

Peninsula 400 The ''Peninsula 400'' was a daily express passenger train operated by the Chicago and North Western Railway between Chicago and Ishpeming, in Michigan's Upper Peninsula. It operated as a named consist from 1942 to 1969. It was one of the rai ...

'', and '' Valley 400''.

References

{{coord, 43, 02, 20.2, N, 87, 53, 59.0, W, type:landmark_region:US-WI, display=title Buildings and structures in Milwaukee Former Chicago and North Western Railway stations Demolished railway stations in the United States Railway stations in the United States opened in 1889 Railway stations closed in 1966 Former railway stations in Wisconsin 1966 disestablishments in Wisconsin 1889 establishments in Wisconsin Charles Sumner Frost buildings