| 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 State Historical Society, Division of Historic Preservation.
DESCRIPTION:
This Italianate depot is rectangular in plan, with a bay in the center of the north facade. The gable roof terminates in wide overhanging eaves that are supported by large open, stick-like brackets. Windows and doors are tall and narrow and topped with pedimented hoods. The bay contains four windows, the tops of which align and are connected by a beltcourse.
ARCHITECTURAL/ENGINEERING SIGNIFICANCE:
This is a fine example of a railroad depot in the Italianate style, and is the only railroad depot remaining in Brookfield Township. Although missing its cupola, the integrity of the building remains strong.
HISTORICAL BACKGROUND:
In 1847, Wisconsin Legislature chartered the first railway company in Wisconsin, the Milwaukee and Waukesha Railway. Three years later the name was changed to Milwaukee and Mississippi Railway, and in 1886 it became the Prairie du Chien division of the Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul Railway.
Train service between Milwaukee and Waukesha began in 1851 with two trips per day. The fare from Brookfield to Waukesha was 10 cents.
In 1851 a second rail line, known as the Milwaukee & Watertown Railroad, was chartered. This line ran nearly parallel to the first one from Milwaukee to Brookfield, where it crossed the Milwaukee & Mississippi Railway line as it turned south, and continued west to Watertown and eventually LaCrosse. The line became the LaCrosse division of the Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul Railway. The crossed lines were changed after the railroads came under common ownership. It was at this junction in Brookfield where the first depot was built in 1853. This depot was later used as a dwelling, and the second depot was erected in 1867.
Brookfield Center Junction became a business center in the 1850s. A hotel was built for daily arrivals. A sawmill, stores, shops, and a post office for the expanding population soon followed.
The principal business in the area was the sawmill located near the depot and operated by Winchell D. Bacon. It furnished great quantities of railroad ties, lumber for bridges and rail cars, as well as lumber for homes and Milwaukee buildings.
HISTORICAL SIGNIFICANCE:
This is the second Brookfield Junction Depot, built in 1867 by the Milwaukee & St. Paul Railroad. Of great significance is the fact that this railroad corridor was created by the Milwaukee & Waukesha Railroad, the first company to actually lay track in Wisconsin. Service between Milwaukee and Waukesha began in 1851. The railroad reached Madison in 1854 and Prairie du Chien in 1857. Due to the closing of the Mississippi River at the Ohio River, the Wisconsin Rail Industry during the Civil War years was chiefly occupied in shipping grain to Lake Michigan ports for shipments East.
By the end of the Civil War, three companies controlled all the rail lines in Wisconsin. Among these was the Milwaukee & St. Paul Railway Company, which built this second depot at Brookfield Junction in 1867.
2021: Depot to be moved to new location nearby original site in November, 2021. |
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| Bibliographic References: | VOGEL, THE RR DEPOT IN SE WI, P 9 (MANUSCRIPT IN HPD FILES)
Questers, Historic Landmark Tour, 1991.
Cultural Resource Management, Vol. 2., Historic Preservation Division, State Historical Society of Wisconsin.
Hisotrical Society List.
State Historical Society of Wisconsin.
"The Railway Depot In S. E. Wisconsin," p. 9.
Brookfield News 2/15/2001.
Elm Grove Elm Leaves 2/15/2001.
https://www.trains.com/trn/news-reviews/news-wire/brookfield-wis-depot-prepared-for-move/ |
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