What eventually became the Michigan Central Railroad was begun in 1837, and the track reached Jackson by 1841.

[3] In 1872, the Michigan Central Railroad decided to construct a replacement for its earlier station built in 1841.

Workers cleaned the brick exterior, reground the terazzo floors and refinished the elaborate wood trim and benches.

Artist Leland Beamon created a mural showing the depot in 1904 alongside a modern Turboliner Amtrak train.

[8] Also in 1978, a former disgruntled New York Central employee named Rudy Bladel killed three former coworkers at the station.

[9] The murder trial led to a U.S. Supreme Court case, Michigan v. Jackson, on the admissibility of confessions.

The windows are narrow, tall six-over-six sash units with a three-light transom above, placed in an arched head opening with a five-piece segmental sandstone lintel above and a sandstone sill below.