About Railway Express Agency Building
Historic Architecture, Architecture, Interesting Places, Other Buildings And Structures
The Railway Express Agency Building was a historic building located at 1804 Western Avenue in Mattoon, Illinois. The building was constructed in 1918 to serve as the Mattoon office of the Railway Express Agency. The Railway Express Agency provided rail express shipping services to Mattoon's citizens, allowing them to ship money and packages along Mattoon's two major railways, the Illinois Central Railroad and Cleveland, Cincinnati, Chicago and St. Louis (Big Four). The agency formed in 1917, when the federal government ordered that all existing express services consolidate into a single service; this measure ensured consistent shipping of goods during World War I. The agency shipped goods to and from Mattoon until 1964, when the Big Four went bankrupt; the building served as a freight depot until 1971.
