Michigan Central Railroad Depots

In the nineteenth century Jackson's central location in Michigan developed the city into a prominent rail hub. When the Michigan Central Railroad (MCRR) reached Jackson in 1841, it built a passenger depot a block and a half northwest of here, followed by a freight depot at this location. Prior to the Civil War, both were part of a freedom corridor used by the Underground Railroad to help self-liberated people reach Canada. After the Civil War, Jackson led the MCRR in passenger traffic and was second in the amount of freight shipped. In 1873 the MCRR replaced its old Jackson depots with this Italianate-style union station, which served most of Jackson's rail lines. The Rail Passenger Service Act of 1970 created Amtrak, which took ownership of the station in 1976. Michigan Central Railroad (MCRR) stations between Chicago and Detroit formed a freedom corridor that helped self-liberated persons escape slavery prior to the Civil War. The MCRR's Jackson passenger station played a key role in the lives of the Crosswhites, who had escaped slavery in the early 1840s and settled in Marshall, Michigan. On January 27, 1847, four Kentuckians broke into the Crosswhite home to re-enslave them. Marshall abolitionists helped them escape and hid them in the woodyard of the Jackson MCRR station that night. George Ingersoll boarded the train in Marshall the next day to ensure the Kentuckians were not onboard. He signaled to the Crosswhites that it was safe to board by standing on the train's rear platform when it arrived. The family soon reached Canada.