{{Use American English|date=February 2025}} {{Use mdy dates|date=February 2025}} {{Infobox station | name = Lake Front Depot | type = | style = | image = File:Lake Front Depot 1898 LOC ds.00203.jpg | image_caption = The depot as it appeared in the 1890s | address = 918 East Wisconsin Avenue, [[Milwaukee, Wisconsin]] 53202 | coordinates = | line = [[Kenosha Subdivision]] [[Waukesha Subdivision]] [[Shoreline Subdivision]] | other = | structure = | platform = | depth = | levels = | tracks = | opened = 1889 | closed = May 15, 1966 | rebuilt = | owned = [[Chicago and North Western Railway]] | former = | passengers = | pass_year = | pass_percent = | pass_system = | mpassengers = | services = | other_services_header = Former services | other_services ={{Adjacent stations|system=Chicago and North Western Railway|line1=Chicago-Minneapolis via Milwaukee|left1=Butler|right1=Racine|line2=Milwaukee Division|right2=National Avenue|line3=Madison-Milwaukee|left3=National Avenue|line4=Ishpeming-Milwaukee|left4=Granville|line5=Green Bay-Milwaukee|left5=Fox Point}} | map_locator = }}
The '''Lake Front Depot''' was a [[train station]] in [[Milwaukee, Wisconsin]] built in 1889–1890 by the [[Chicago and North Western Railway]] (C&NW). It was located near the shore of [[Lake Michigan]] at the end of East Wisconsin Avenue, by today's [[Milwaukee County War Memorial]]. The structure was built with stone in the [[Richardsonian Romanesque|Romanesque]] style, and had a tall [[clock tower]] which reached {{convert|234|ft}} high. The depot cost $200,000 {{USDCY|200000|1890}} to build at the time, and eventually served 98 trains a day.
Chicago and North Western owned the depot until 1964 when [[Milwaukee County, Wisconsin|Milwaukee County]] bought the structure and surrounding land for $7 million {{USDCY|7000000|1964}}, 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]]) 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]] 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 {{USDCY|325000|1968}} to restore the structure to $575,000 {{USDCY|575000|1968}} to move it to another location.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=Wz0aAAAAIBAJ&sjid=DSgEAAAAIBAJ&pg=7150%2C598907|title=End of Line in Sight for Towering Depot|work=The Milwaukee Journal|date=February 2, 1968|accessdate=2010-02-16|pages=1, 5 (Accent section)|author=Charlie House}}</ref>
Many of the C&NW's "''400'' " trains served this station starting in 1935. In the early days of the ''[[Twin Cities 400]]'', the [[steam locomotive]]s which pulled the train were exchanged at the Milwaukee station. The engines ran at such high speeds on the route from [[Chicago, Illinois|Chicago]] to [[Minneapolis–Saint Paul]] that some components in the drivetrain couldn't withstand the {{convert|410|mi|adj=on}} 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]]'', ''[[Peninsula 400]]'', and ''[[Valley 400]]''.<ref name="400-story">{{Scribbins-400-2008}}</ref>
==References== {{reflist}}
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[[Category:Buildings and structures in Milwaukee]] [[Category:Former Chicago and North Western Railway stations]] [[Category:Demolished railway stations in the United States]] [[Category:Railway stations in the United States opened in 1889]] [[Category:Former railway stations in Wisconsin]] [[Category:1966 disestablishments in Wisconsin]] [[Category:1889 establishments in Wisconsin]] [[Category:Charles Sumner Frost buildings]] [[Category:Railway stations in the United States closed in 1966]]