Wilton station (Iowa)
former M&M RR station in Wilton, Iowa
Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railroad-Wilton Depot is an historic building located in Wilton, Iowa, United States. The Mississippi and Missouri Railroad built the first rail line in 1855 in what would be called Wilton Junction. The railroad became the Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railroad (CRI&P) a few years later. A wooden frame depot and a separate freight facility served the community. The railroad placed their repair and maintenance center in Wilton, and it remained here until 1881 when they started to move operations to Davenport and Muscatine. Rail service continued to increase along the CRI&P, which necessitated a new depot in Wilton. This single-story, brick Romanesque Revival structure was completed in 1898. Six passenger trains stopped in Wilton in 1911, and by 1922 same-day service to and from Chicago began.
While the number of freight trains passing through town numbered five or six by 1947, the number of passenger trains declined to one local Chicago to Des Moines train, westbound-only in 1953. The station was finally dropped from passenger timetables in 1954.
This brief starts where responsible research should: with the source description of “Wilton station (Iowa)” as former M&M RR station in Wilton, Iowa. Everything that follows is an evidence route, not borrowed authority.
Why this record matters
The subject matters to the places & architecture register because the source frames it as former M&M RR station in Wilton, Iowa. Its deeper value depends on whether names, dates, institutions and citations support that framing.
Maps, plans, fabric surveys and administrative records can establish how the site’s name, extent and function changed over time. The source revision retrieved here is dated Aug 15, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q5095443. Authority coordinates are 41.588, -91.016. 1 of 1 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1855, 1881, 1898 and 1911.
A single description cannot reconcile every naming convention, rebuilding phase or administrative transfer associated with a place. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Treat names, boundaries and functions as historically changeable. Maps, plans, inventories and administrative records can clarify what the place meant at different dates.
- Historic place names
- Jurisdictional context
- Routes into maps and plans
Contemporary maps, plans, listed-building records, estate papers and the responsible local or national archive.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “Wilton station (Iowa)”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow Wilton station (Iowa) primary sources, Wilton station (Iowa) archive and Wilton research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Wilton station (Iowa)”?
- What physical evidence or contemporary plan supports the description?
- Which authority defined the place, boundary or structure at the relevant date?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “Wilton station (Iowa)” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.