Historical Significance of the Depot

C&NW Passenger Depot and Madison Division Office Building – Baraboo, WI

The Chicago & North Western Railroad (C&NW) officially arrived in Baraboo in September of 1871 finally satisfying the community’s desire for a rail connection to the rest of the country. In addition to providing Baraboo with a railroad depot, Chicago & North Western also decided to make Baraboo the headquarters for its Madison Division. Initially a wooden passenger depot was built along with separate buildings for division offices and a hotel and eating house.  An eight stall roundhouse with turntable was also built in Baraboo which eventually grew to 28 stalls.  

In 1896 the C&NW line between Madison and Elroy was “double tracked” due to the heavy passenger and freight traffic along this corridor which ran through Baraboo.

After the line was doubled the desire for a new depot at Baraboo increased. Besides being too small, the old one-story wooden depot was seen as an embarrassment to a city that was a division headquarters.

Finally in September of 1901 a representative from the Chicago architectural firm of Frost & Granger was sent to Baraboo by C&NW to look over the site and it was soon announced that a new two story passenger depot and office building for the division headquarters would be built. 

Work began on the new passenger depot and division offices building in October of 1901 from plans drawn by Frost & Granger of Chicago which had a long relationship with the C&NW railroad. The building was finished for public use in May of 1902. 

The main floor of the building included waiting rooms for men and women, a kitchen and lunch room and ticket, express and baggage offices. The second floor contained offices for the division superintendent, assistant superintendent, chief dispatcher, dispatcher, roadmaster, superintendent of buildings and bridges, accountant, records, telegraph linemen, trainmaster, telegraph operations and clerks. 

The depot and office building was the heart of C&NW’s operation in Baraboo and along the Madison Division. The 1903 Baraboo City Directory lists 388 railroad-related employees which was more than five percent of the city’s population. (even more lived outside of the city limits so the number was certainly greater than 400)

The division office stayed in Baraboo until 1933 when 26 employees were transferred to the Madison office, including the superintendent, train dispatcher, division accountant and related staff.

The building stayed in use as a passenger depot until 1963. After this it was sold into private hands when it was used for storage. 

Baraboo’s Historic Depot and Division Office to be Restored

On Friday, October 23, 2020, a new chapter began in the life of Baraboo’s historic train depot. The family of Gordon and Ann  Glorch including children Sally Glorch, Susan Elieff, and Gordon Glorch and grandchildren and great grandchildren turned over ownership of the depot to the Sauk County Historical Society. In the immediate future the building will be covered with a temporary rubber roof covering as the building is inspected and plans are prepared for restoration. Future ideas for the building include space for exhibits including a display on railroad history, community gatherings and historic presentations. 

Situated on Baraboo’s south side on Lynn Street, Baraboo’s train depot has been mostly dormant since passenger service ended in 1963. The building was Baraboo’s central transportation hub for many years after it was built in 1902 at which time as many as sixteen passenger trains a day passed through the city. Hundreds of thousands of people passed through this gateway to the city embarking and disembarking from its original 300-foot-long canopy. Inside the building offered separate men’s and women’s waiting rooms, a restaurant and baggage storage rooms on the first floor. The second floor contained offices for the Madison Division of the Chicago & North Western Railroad. This set Baraboo apart as it was the headquarters for nearly 500 miles of track between Madison, Wisconsin and Winona, Minnesota. When the depot / office building was built Baraboo was home to nearly 400 railroad employees including brakemen, firemen, conductors, engineers, dispatchers, repairmen and management staff. 

Restoring the historic depot is part of the mission of the Sauk County Historical Society to “preserve, protect, maintain and disseminate the history of Sauk County.” One way this is done is through the preservation of historic buildings. The depot is the only remaining building in Baraboo related to the operation of the Chicago & Northwestern Railroad, which was the largest employer in Sauk County for many years and a major force in the growth and development of Sauk County. 

After the building was no longer used as a depot it was converted into a warehouse and its three hundred foot long passenger canopy was removed. The Sauk County Historical Society recognizes that many challenges come with the restoration of this wonderful historic building, the first of which is fundraising. To that end, a fundraising effort will soon be underway. The  Society enthusiastically looks forward to the preservation of the old depot and the sharing of its amazing history as the project unfolds.