Part of the station house is blocked off, but you can see this inside - did this station house once have a coffee shop?
Tallest hill in Illinois
Elgin is one of the few suburbs to have three Metra stations within it - the others being Evanston, Hinsdale, Glenview, Orland Park, and Winnetka. And only Orland Park is in Zone 4. But why? Big Timber makes sense - it's a park'n'ride station for places farther out to cut down on traffic in downtown. But why National Street? It's so close to Elgin (station)... less than a mile walk!
National Street (station) is named for the nearby National Street (the street). And National Street (the street) is named for the Elgin National Watch Company. The Elgin National Watch Company was set up just across the river from where National Street (station) is. But why would they get their own train station? Simple. It looked like this.
If you worked for them, you probably also lived on site too. So why would the Milwaukee Road *not* build a station for the thousands of people living nearby?