[1]: 18  The stop was originally a simple wood-framed structure,[2] referred to as Locke-Eby after the nearby town of Locke.

Nappanee became a stop on the Broadway Limited when Amtrak rerouted the train over the former Baltimore and Ohio Main Line in 1990.

[3] The town was selected as a stop due to the adjacent parking lot which was owned by the city.

Nappanee again became an Amtrak stop when the Three Rivers's western terminus was extended from Pittsburgh to Chicago on November 10, 1996.

It has since become home for a local food pantry, named Nappanee Open Door.