The Whitewater Historical Society will celebrate the ongoing work of its depot restoration project and the recent listing of the building in the State Register of Historic Places on Wednesday, Sept. 26 at 7 p.m. in the Cravath Lakefront Community building.
The public is invited to hear Carol Cartwright, who prepared nomination papers to the State and National Registers, give the presentation she made to the State Historic Preservation Review Board last month.
Cartwright will also provide an update on the progress of the historic train depot restoration through photographs she has taken every two weeks since the start of the project.
Although the Whitewater Passenger Depot has been an official local landmark and local history museum for the Whitewater Historical Society for decades, it was never officially listed in the State and National Register of Historic Places, the state and nation’s listing of local, state, and nationally significant architectural and historical sites.
This changed on Aug. 24, when the nomination of the depot to the State and National Registers was presented to the State Historic Preservation Review Board at the Wisconsin Historical Society in Madison.
Upon the approval of the board members, who all agreed that the building was “an architectural gem,” the depot’s listing was immediately made official. The nomination papers are now being sent to the National Park Service, which administers the National Register of Historic Places. The building should be listed in the National Register by the end of the year.
“The Whitewater community has always known that the depot is historic, but in order to be listed in the State and National Registers, a formal argument is made for why the building merits this distinction,” the historical society said.
In the case of the depot, it was because both its architecture and history are significant.
“It is an outstanding example of an architectural style applied to a railroad depot and represents the growth of the railroad in Whitewater, the most important means of transportation during the 19th and early 20th centuries,” according to the historical society.
Cartwright will give a brief history of the depot and discuss its architectural and historical significance.
This will be followed by a sneak peak and review of how the restoration work is being done on the building.
Along with updating and cleaning the exterior of the building, the rehabilitation project includes installation of a new unisex handicapped accessible restroom, floor repairs and window improvements.
The program is free and open to the public. Light refreshments will be served.
