The Murphysboro, IL City Council has moved towards seeking demolition of the 1880's Mobile & Ohio 2 story brick station building.  Later used by the Gulf Mobile & Ohio to dispatch trains between Cairo and East St. Louis, and was served by the Gulf Coast Rebel passenger train.  The Illinois Central Gulf removed the Sparta District trackage in the mid-1980's from Tamms to Percy, IL, leaving Murphysboro as a one railroad town.

The building was last used as a restaurant and bar, and has under re-rehabilitation by the current owner for the last several years.  Instead of working with him to see the rehabilitation through, the city is seeking to force demolition of this prominent structure at the corner of Walnut (IL 149) and 17th St. - just a block away from the award winning and world famous 17th St. Bar and Grill BBQ joint.

The structure survived the infamous 1925 Tri-State Tornado which decimated Murphysboro, and was placed on the National Register of Historical Places in 1984.  The purpose of this petition is to foster communications between the city and the current owner, and to show that there is public concern for the demolition of railroad and other historical buildings. 

Other Gulf Mobile and Ohio stations in Illinois are preserved or currently undergoing rehabilitation to be used as train stations again - the Misselhorn Art Gallery in the Sparta station, made famous by it's nocturnal use as Sparta, MS in the pivotal 1967 film In the Heat of the Night -  and Lincoln depot, recently reclaimed by the city for use as Amtrak waiting space and additional city/chamber of commerce offices.

It was stated that the owner has planned use for the building, and hopefully this support will galvanize those intentions or make way for a new use of the structure.  In the short term, the goal would be to seek a "stay of demolition" for the building and discover if this would be a proper use of eminent domain seizure of a property that is listed as an Historical Place.  Once it's gone, it will never be back, and it's really too late in the game to loose a building like this under any circumstance.

Thanks for your consideration, support and concern regarding saving the Mobile & Ohio Murphysboro, IL station.

Additional information can be found in the following article from The Southern Illinoisan: http://thesouthern.com/news/local/communities/murphysboro/article_5c913c95-8ee5-5136-b290-a7dd16313589.html