This recently discovered photo is the only known view of La Porte’s first train depot. Built on the Lake Shore and Michigan Southern line, which later was the New York Central, it exhibited elements of the Italianate style, with influences of Gothic Revival. The round-headed windows are typical for Italianate buildings, but the drip mouldings over them and the vertical board and batten siding are more common on Gothic Revival buildings. The east end of this building was constructed soon after the tracks were first laid through La Porte in 1853. The two-story west end, housing the Depot Hotel, was erected in 1862. At one point it was described as a “ramshackle structure, a disgrace to the city,” and it met its fate on Sunday, 14 April, 1907 in a fire that completely destroyed it. It was emphasized that a new structure would not be of wood. Larson & Danielson constructed the new station from 1909 – 1910, and that building still stands, however precariously. (Information from Fern Eddy Schultz.)
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