Joliet, IL (JOL)

Ticket Revenue

FY 2011

$1,328,138

Station Ridership

FY 2011

54,668

Note: Fiscal year is from
October through September.

Joliet Union Station, built in 1912 by Adam Groth Company, was designed by architect Jarvis Hunt. Hunt, one of the leaders of the City Beautiful movement, designed many historical buildings across the United States in the early years of the twentieth century, such as the Kansas City Union Station, the Kansas City Star building, and the Union Station in Dallas, Texas. The Joliet station is constructed of Bedford limestone, costing $250,000 to build, and accompanied the elevation of the rail lines in Joliet City center, a project that gained national attention. It was placed on the National Register of Historic Places on August 1, 1978.

Train service to Joliet was begun in 1852, with the Chicago and Rock Island Railroad. It is the site of the old Rock Island Diamond and sits at the junction of the former Rock Island Line and Alton Railroad main lines.

The station was extensively renovated from 1989 to 1991 to make it ADA accessible. Today, Metra commuter trains of the Rock Island District and Heritage Corridor stop there as well as Amtrak’s two services. Railfans favor the station as a place to view both freight and passenger trains.

The city unveiled plans for a long-envisioned regional multimodal transportation center on March 31, 2010. This enlarged center would be located at the current Union Station, and would gather Metra, Amtrak, PACE, taxis, and intercity bus lines into one facility. Optimistic estimates place possible ground-breaking in 2011. The project, which is currently in the process of securing funding, would in its five phases cost about $55 million to $60 million.

This area’s first non-native settlers came in 1833 and 1834 following the Black Hawk War, settling along the Des Plaines River. James B. Campbell, treasurer of the canal commissioners, laid out the village of Juliet there, which name the local settlers had been using before his arrival. Juliet incorporated as a village in 1837, but rescinded it to lift a tax burden in the 1837 depression. Local residents changed the name to “Joliet” in 1845, and the city reincorporated in 1852. It is speculated that the name was taken from one of the first European explorers to visit the region, Louis Jolliet, who came up the Des Plaines River in 1673 and camped on the clay mound of what became known as Mound Jolliet. Extensive excavation of that resource eventually eroded the mound, and that location was later settled as Rockdale.

Joliet depended on manufacturing in the twentieth century, and is also a close suburb of Chicago; thus it has evolved from a steel town to an exurb of the greater Chicago area. The city center has been undergoing revitalization in recent years. Local landmarks include the Joliet Area Historical Museum and Route 66 Visitors Center.

The alternate route section of US 66, from Wilmington to Jolie was added to the National Register of Historic Places on May 5, 2006. This roadbed, passing through largely agricultural lands, had periods of construction both in 1926 and 1945.

Joliet Prison (Joliet Correctional Center) was in use between 1858 and 2002, and was built with limestone quarried on the site, with convict labor. The prison was the main execution site in Illinois. It has been darkly remembered in poetry—in the Spoon River Anthology by Edgar Lee Masters—in song, in recordings by Memphis Minnie (1932) and Bob Dylan, and in many films.

The Rialto Square Theater, a favored haunt of Al Capone is also in downtown Joliet. There are, furthermore, two riverboat casinos in Joliet—which spans both the Des Plaines and DuPage Rivers—making Joliet the only city in the state to have two casinos, The Empress Casino and Harrah’s, downtown. Chicagoland Speedway is in Joliet as well, hosting annual events from NASCAR and the Indy Racing League.

Amtrak provides both ticketing and help with baggage at this facility. Joliet is served by eight daily trains.