The original depot was constructed in 1887 and was destroyed by fire on June 13, 1963.

Following the creation of Amtrak, the Santa Fe shared the building as a division headquarters for freight operations until 1991.

[3] Amtrak service at Chillicothe began on May 1, 1971, with the Chicago-Houston Texas Chief,[4] a service previously run by the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway.

[5] For most of Amtrak's first quarter-century, it was Peoria's only link to the national rail system.

The short-lived Prairie Marksman ran to East Peoria in 1980 and 1981.