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1906 Depot

11 S Old US Route 66, Hamel, IL
Phone:

East < GO > West

In 1906 this was built as a substation for the Illinois Terminal Railroad / Illinois Traction System. I guess it is two stores tall to allow provide access to service the overhead electrical lines that powered the trains. These trains ran through Hamel until 1956.

Sometime after the last train went by it became the Central Garage. It was the Route 66 Beauty and Tanning Salon when we went by in 2016. The building has been significantly enlarged to house restaurant since these photos were snapped.

I had mistaken this building as being the 1870s the Wabash Railroad depot, that was located not quite 3 miles west of here in a community called Carpenter where Hwy. 140 crosses the railroad tracks. That depot has been torn down.

This photo shows the "Trucking Down 66" Wayside Exhibit across the parking lot from the depot building. The white building in the left background was the office for George Cassens' trucking company and his 1930s/50s Hudson-Essex-Terraplane auto dealership.

Photo(s): 2016