Battle Creek Amtrak Station (Battle Creek Station of the Michigan Central Railroad–Penn Central Railroad)

The solid, low-lying Richardsonian Romanesque station exudes the confidence of a city that had recently achieved a population of 9,000. Then, in 1887, the Michigan Central Railroad Company discarded its depot on N. Monroe Street for this station of red brick and red Lake Superior sandstone. The Battle Creek station recalls the H. H. Richardson stations at Auburndale (demolished), and at North Easton in Massachusetts. Reminiscent of the Richardsonian works is the simple, dramatic, broad roof with a generous overhang. In this example, the heavy, yet upward-thrusting, tapering clock tower (a feature not favored by Richardson) lends a dramatic vertical accent to the dominant horizontal of the main rectangular mass. The roof affords shelter and the powerful broad-arched entrance on the off-track side beckons travelers. The station with its simple geometric shape and its absence of decoration rests firmly alongside the railroad tracks.