I spent this thanksgiving in Decatur, Illinois with family and my mother-in-law took us on a tour of Decatur.  One of the things we saw was this Transfer House.  I must admit I didn't know what a Transfer House was so today I researched it.  It is quite an interesting story.  Above is a picture I took of how the building stands today.  Below are pictures from it's past.

Decatur, Illinois has the distinction of having a street corner which is the intersection of Main Street and Main Street: North-and-South Main Street, and East-and-West Main Street.  Up to 1962, when it was rebuilt to facilitate traffic on U. S. highway 51, this intersection was a wide square called Lincoln Square (originally Central Block), and had a small round building in its center called the Transfer House.

Decatur was an early streetcar electrification.  In 1889, the Citizens' Street Railway became the Citizens' Electric Street Railway, with a plan to electrify its horsecar lines.  Electric streetcar service began on August 28, 1889.  In 1891, the company was reorganized as the City Electric Railway.  This became the Decatur Traction and Electric Company in 1899.  It was sold to the William McKinley interests, which became the Illinois Traction System (ITS), in 1900.  After December 1903, the company was known as the Decatur Railway and Light Company.

The Transfer House was erected in 1895, on Lincoln Square, replacing a smaller shelter dating from 1892.  The Transfer House sat in the center of the original town.  The City Electric Railway paid $500 toward the $2700 building fund subscribed by local merchants and property owners, and agreed to furnish and maintain the building.  As its name implies, it was used as a central transfer point for all the streetcar lines (and later the bus lines) in the city.  It served as a shelter for those waiting to board street cars and later, buses.  Over the years, the Transfer House has been much more to the citizens of Decatur than just protection from the cold.  They symbol of Decatur reminds them of a time when those crazy trolley parties were the rage and young people lined up to ride the new electric street cars,  It was an era of good old fashion fun, as friends met on the Square for those weekly band concerts by the Goodman Band and later the WPA Orchestra.  A period of time marked by victory celebrations and political speeches, the Transfer House served as the centerpiece for social gatherings

All interurban and city cars in Decatur passed the Transfer House.  The original Illinois Traction System (later Illinois Terminal) interurban depot was one block east to S. Water Street, then one block south to E. Wood Street.  The interurban line to Springfield was to the west, starting on W. Main.  The lines to Bloomington and Champaign entered downtown Decatur via N. Main, and left by going north on N. Water Street.  (Later, in 1931, the depot was moved to a point on the belt line, bypassing downtown Decatur.)  City car lines also used the interurban routes to about the city limits, and there were about four other city car lines not shared with the interurban cars.  A diagram of the tracks at the square, showing the normal direction of travel, is shown in Figure 1.

Buses were introduced to Decatur in 1924.  City streetcar trackage had reached 13.5 miles by then, but now began to shrink.  By 1935, only 7.68 miles of track remained in service.  The end of the streetcars came in Decatur on December 14, 1936.

As time passed on, the city of Decatur began to grow and the square was reduced in 1962 in the name of highway building.  Because of the traffic flow problems, the Decatur City Council in 1962, decided to move the Transfer House to Central Park under much protest. This move signaled the end of a special era in the History of Decatur.  It languished there, serving as a shopper's resting place and, in season, as Santa's headquarters.  According to websites I've found, in 1970 it was renovated for use of the Downtown Decatur Council as offices and public information center.  However, I was there just a few days ago and saw no signs of a renovation.  It just sits there, lonely and forgotten.  The windows are clean and the grass is landscaped.  The trash containers are empty and the stones of the building are clean.  But to my knowledge it has no use at all. 

But if you find yourself in Decatur, Illinois you really must go see this building.  It's beautiful.


 

In the picture above, taken around 1905, an ITS car, probably just in from Springfield, is moving from W. Main toward the interurban depot.  It will probably go around the south half of the Transfer House, and exit to E. Main.  — Moore & Gibson

In the picture above.  Birney safety car 116 rounds the Transfer House on its way from West or South Main Street to East Main in this 1920s view looking to the northeast.  Automobile traffic has begun to build, and the streetcars must share space with them.  In fact, the right front corner of this streetcar seems almost to be in contact with the automobile next to it; could this picture have been taken to document an accident?  Note the overhang of the front of the car body from the track.  Motorists often had difficulty estimating where the streetcar would be as it rounded a curve! — Paul Stringham Collection from Stephen M. Scalzo