The station was designed by Charles Sumner Frost and Alfred Hoyt Granger in 1891 and closed for passenger service in 1971.

It was designed in a Richardsonian Romanesque style by Charles Sumner Frost and Alfred Hoyt Granger.

A bridge was constructed over the Mississippi and the railroad was bought by the Chicago and North Western Railway in 1864.

[7] Union Pacific trains were shifted from the C&NW to the Milwaukee Road in 1955, and the Kate Shelley 400 and The Omahan served DeKalb.

The C&NW was eventually bought by the Union Pacific Railroad in 1995, and DeKalb station has remained in use as an office.

[10] Metra's commuter rail service on the Union Pacific / West Line was extended to Elburn, Illinois in 2006, 15 miles (24 km) east of DeKalb.

However, an extension of the line would require DeKalb County to join the Regional Transportation Authority (RTA), the operator of Metra.