Lake Shore & Michigan Southern Station

Side A: On February 8, 1848, the Ohio Legislature incorporated the Cleveland, Painesville, and Ashtabula Railroad Company, which reached Painesville in 1851, with track and a depot. President-elect Abraham Lincoln arrived in Painesville on February 16, 1861, on his way to his inauguration in Washington, DC. The Lake Shore Railroad Company replaced the Cleveland, Painesville, and Ashtabula Railroad Company in March 1869 followed by consolidation with the Lake Shore and Michigan Southern Railway Company in June of that year. The Lake Shore and Michigan Southern Railway, replacing the original 1851 depot, built the present station in 1893. With its Richardson Romanesque style architecture, sandstone walls, slate roof, red oak and marble interior, and its hanging chandeliers, it was considered the jewel of Painesville. In 1914, Lake Shore merged with ten others to form the New York Central System. In 1971, the last passenger train left the Painesville yard, ending nearly 100 years of passenger rail service. Side B: Same