Illinois Central Freight House

The Illinois Central Freight House is the second freight house built in Amboy. Built in 1904, it replaced the original freight house that was built of brick near the depot. The second freight house was built one block north of the depot and is of a simpler wooden construction. When the railroad line through Amboy was abandoned in the mid 1980's, the freight house ended up on a separate parcel from the depot and was thus preserved in private ownership for nearly two decades. When the owners indicated they wanted to rid their property of the freight house, the depot museum borrowed enough money to pour a concrete foundation and hired a house-moving specialist to move the freight house to museum property in January, 2003.

The restored Amboy Freight House provides an additional 1800 square feet of space for the Depot Museum to display historical artifacts from the Amboy area and its residents.

Included among these artifacts is a collection of antique tools, some used by the railroad and others used by the area's farmers of yesteryear. But perhaps most notable among these donated artifacts is the extensive rock and fossil collection of Professor Blocher. Visions of the past are afforded by numerous photos, news articles, and maps.