The railroad depot has played an integral role in countless towns and cities throughout the state of Indiana and in other regions of the nation. In many communities, the depot served as the local newsstand, post office, and social gathering place. A community’s railroad depot was a symbol of pride, which was evident by the significant level of architectural detail found in these transportation edifices. Over the course of the past fifty years, a vast majority of these architectural gems have fallen into disrepair, or worse, been demolished because it was believed that the depot could no longer fulfill a viable role in a post-railroad oriented society. There have been multiple efforts to rehabilitate the railroad depot by both the private and public sectors. Although many efforts have been made, there are still numerous historic depots throughout Indiana that are in need of assistance and in danger of being razed. Therefore, this thesis investigates the role of the depot in Indiana towns and cities today by looking at different rehabilitation projects that have successfully saved the railroad depot and transformed it once again into an active member of the local community. / History of the railroad industry in Indiana -- Development of the railroad depot in Indiana -- Literature review on railroad depot rehabilitation -- Methodology for case studies -- Depot rehabilitation case studies -- Conclusion. / Department of Architecture

The development of the large corporate railroad systems in the Midwest, during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, produced many high quality, architecturally significant railroad stations. Among these, Richmond's Pennsylvania Railroad Station, built to the designs of the D.H. Burnham & Co., of Chicago in 1902-1903, is a fine example of the Beaux-Arts and Neo-Classical Revival Styles of architecture popular after the Columbian World Exposition of 1893. The Richmond station remains as the last example of the Burnham Co.'s railroad station work in Indiana. This thesis will review the history and current status of the station, review and summarize the field of railroad station reuse, and present an adaptive reuse plan for the station. / Department of Architecture