Property Record
211 CORDELIA ST
Architecture and History Inventory
| Historic Name: | Fox Lake Railroad Depot |
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| Other Name: | FOX LAKE HISTORICAL MUSEUM |
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| Reference Number: | 15144 |
| Location (Address): | 211 CORDELIA ST |
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| County: | Dodge |
| City: | Fox Lake |
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| Year Built: | 1884 |
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| Historic Use: | depot |
| Architectural Style: | Other Vernacular |
| Structural System: | Balloon Frame |
| Wall Material: | Drop Siding |
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| Other Buildings On Site: | |
| Demolished?: | No |
| Demolished Date: |
| National/State Register Listing Name: | Not listed |
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| Additional Information: | A 'site file' exists for this property. It contains additional information such as correspondence, newspaper clippings, or historical information. It is a public record and may be viewed in person at the Wisconsin Historical Society, State Historic Preservation Office. TRUSSES IN GABLE. MOULDED LINTELS OVER TRANSOMED DOOR AND WINDOWS. CRAFTSMAN PORTE COCHERE W/DORIC COLUMNS IS A 1919 ADDITION. DEPOT REMOVAL AUTHORIZED 04/01/71. Also known as Chicago, Milwaukee and St. Paul Railroad Depot The Fox Lake depot, now a museum, is a typical small wooden station of the late nineteenth century. It began in 1884 as a rectangular folk Victorian structure with a projecting front bay, ornamented with a decorative truss and jigsaw-cut brackets. In 1919, the Chicago, Milwaukee, and St. Paul Railway expanded the depot on the north and east and added a south-facing porte-cochère to shelter passengers arriving by automobile. The porte-cochère's exposed wooden rafters with jigsaw-cut tails reflect the Craftsman style that was in vogue during the 1910s and 1920s. At railroad depots, dispatchers coordinated train movements, and clerks sold tickets and handled passengers and freight. The dispatcher sat in the bay window, watching in both directions for approaching trains. He then telegraphed his counterparts at other stations to apprise them of each train’s whereabouts. Engine crews could not be reached by telegraph, so when the agent received a telegraph order for a certain crew, he would write it down and hold it aloft on a stick; the crew would snag it as the train rumbled by. This depot was the hub for the village of Fox Lake, the oldest settlement in Dodge County. The depot linked the local stockyards, grain elevators, and canning company to distant markets, and it welcomed visitors to the summer cottages around the lake. |
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| Bibliographic References: | VOGEL "THE RR DEPOT IN SE WI" (MANUSCRIPT IN HPD FILES) Buildings of Wisconsin manuscript. |
| Wisconsin Architecture and History Inventory, State Historic Preservation Office, Wisconsin Historical Society, Madison, Wisconsin |