Opelika Train Depot History

8/6/2019 Opelika Train Depot History

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The Train Depotof Opelika"OPELIKA TO HAVE NEW $40,000LJNiONDEPOT", wasthebannerheadlineof the'OpelikaDaileyNews', February ,7922." "Adequate hedswill be providedalongwiththenew station, ssuchaccommodationsre nvolved n the commission's rder. Thisirnprovement lone, t is pointedout, will be among he rnostwelcomedevercontemplatedn the city, n connection ith railroads r depots.Duringheavy ains,whenhundredsof passengers hange arshereor board he train for foreignpoints, t isnecessaryo become xposedo the weather efore he objective s a ttained."Quitea changeaccording o "What is Happening n and Around EastAlabama'sMetropolis" ection f the"Opelika ndustrialNews" of April 9,1897. Where trnentions:The Western ailroad s having someneatwire fencingput around ts part onSouthRailroadavenue." The uniondepot estaurants finishedand s in operation. t isoneof the neatest ndmosthandsomelyinished uildingswe haveseenand s alreadydoinga goodbusiness." The new courthousewill be heatedwith steamand ightedwith electricity hroughout." The newdepotwas inishedMondayandnow only awaitsthe urniture o be ready or occupancy.Therailroadmen are anticipating he changewith pleasure, hile thepublic s not soanxious or the change."TheOpelikaTrainDepotalmost anishedrom heHistoricRegister ndRailroadAvenue.City officials,stateandnational epresentatives,pelika'sHistoricPreservatronSociety,Chamber f Commerce,OpelikaDowntown, nc.,OpelikaArts Association ndEastAlabamaMuseum ook steps o helppreservehis historicbuilding.All rail service adbeendiscontinuedn Opelika.Uniroyalwasoneof the astcustomersandat hat ime had o ship hei rproductsromColumbus.WhenOpelikans ecame wareof thesituation,hey irst reacted motionallywithfloodingmemories f pastexperiencesndstories f Opelikaand ts traindepot.Therewasgreatsupport or the effort to "Save heDepot". It is the historic symbol of the birthandgrowthof Opelika. On February ,1854, heLegislature f Alabama ncorporatedthe own of Opelika n RussellCounty; ts imits extended nemile in everydirectionfrom the ailwaystation. LeeCountywasnot created ntil 1866.Therailroadcame o this area wenty yearsbefore the founding of Lee County. By thetime he major ailroad-building rogramsn EastAlabamawerecompletedn the 1880s,Lee County,andOpelika n particular, ound tself at the crossroad f two important ines- lines hatcontinueo play a vital role n Southeasternommerce. n 1854 he new ownof Opelikabecame railroadTunction,n mportant istinction n the mid-1800s.The first railroad o be built into what s now LeeCountywasalso he second ine in Alabamaand one ofthe earliest n the South. First charlered y the state n 1832as he Montgomery Railroad, heMontgomery& WestPoint eached oachapoka ndAuburn n 1847,Opelika n 1848,an dcompletedts ine o WestPoint n I 851 By thisdate, he roadoperated locomotives,0 passengerars,an d74 freight ar sover ts8S-mi leroute,andreceiptsfor thel850-5l f iscalyeartota led$140,057.mal l ,wood-f ramedepotswere


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erected t Loachapoka, uburn, andOpelika. While no detailssurviveof a depotstrllcfure or RoughandReady, our miles northeast f Opelika, he stopdoesappearon early imetables, nd t was likely servedby a simpleshelter.Trvo dailypassengerrains rovided cheduledervice, ndon ecouldgo fiom Opelikato Montgomeryn less ha nsix hours. Service o Atlantabegann 1854,with a change f trains equirednWestPoint.Tw o things reof parlicular nterest bout his ine. From heoutset,t wa sbuilt to what aterbecame"standard auge,"4'-81/2", nstead f th e5' gaugemorecommon n theSouth. t changed o 5' gaugeafter heCivil War, andchanged gain o standard auge n 1886,making t perhapshe only railroad n th ecountry o undergo wo gaguechanges.The second hangewasaccomplishedn only three days! Ofgreaternterest o local residents t the time wa its route hrough he area. As the M&WP approachedAuburn,Opelikadid not ex ist asa town. The closest eftlementwas a few miles north at Oak Bowery,andpeople herewanted o be on the new railroad. When the railroad'sactual outebecameknown, OakBowery esidents ssentiallymoved heir town to the present iteof Opelika. It was a propitious move,becauseheM&WP chose hat ocation o begin ts branch ine o Columbus, A, which t completedn1854, nd henew own of Opelika ecame ralboadunction, and mportant istinctionn the mid-1800's.What eally put Opelikaon the map was he construction f a second ine betweenColumbus and Opelika.So,evenbefore heCivil War,we ha dbecome railroadunctionpoint. Opelika's rominence sa railcenter ausedGeneralSherman,who waspressingdown from Chattanoogaoward Atlanta, to orderGeneralRousseauo descendrom North Alabama n a calvary aid and deslroy he railroadbefweenOpelika nd Lochapokao burnsupplies nd oll ingstock,mainly ocatedn Opelika,destined or th eConfederate efense f Alabama.Excerptsrom paperby J. LawrenceLee,

In the inal yearof the Civil War therewere wo Union aids. Gen.Lovell H. RousseauIed he irst n Jr-rly 864. His troopsburned he Loachapoka,ubum, and Opelikadepots, nd oreup over 30 milesof trackanddamagedhe urntable, ard,andwye atOpelika. The oadwas epaired y fall and esumed peration.Gen.JamesH. WilsoninvadedMontgomery n April 12, 1865 threedaysafterLee'ssurrender t Appomattox- andbegananunnecessary,ut systematic, estruction f the ailroad ine that ended nColumbus ndWestPoint our days ater.Severalamous assengerrains, ncluding he Crescent, ieclmont imited,Seminole,andCityof Miami,served ee Countybetween he 1890s nd he nceptionof Amtrak n1971. All of theserainsstoppedn Opelika,where hecurrent epotwas erected oreplacewo older,wood-frame tmcturesn 1922. It is clear hat his structurewas atleast he ourthdepotbuilt in Opelikaby the wo railroads.As passengerraffic declined uring he 1960s, hese nce-proudrainswerediscontinuedone-by-one ntil only theCityof Miami remained.On April 30,1971, he night beforeAmtrak ook overmostof the nation'spassengerrains, t, too, eft Opelika or the asttime,ending125yearsof passengerervice n Lee County.Passengerrainsno longer all at stationsn LeeCounty, ut the ong CSX andNorfolkSouthemreight rains hatpass hroughdaily arenotmerely emnants f a bygoneera.With perhaps 2,000 orsepower p fiont andweighing10,000onsor more, hese ratnsareelfrcientmachinesraversing istoric, ut still vital, inks n a modern ailroadsystem.


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TheOpelikadepot atvacant or several ears ntil theOpelikaArts Association ecuredfunding o renovatet as ts office.

Th edescription f th ebuildingas isted n "NationalRegister f FlistoricPlacesnventory .." :"Old Passengerepot 1032SouthRailroadAvenue): c. 1910-1924. -shaped nestory, wo toneFlemish on dbrickbuildingwith stoneandbrick rowiockbeltcoursings; latehip roof with a metalcanopy upported y chains ndmetalbrackets.Wood framedouble un gwindowswith transoms bove.


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Iune23.2004JamesWoodrow Plant, aged90,wasout takinga stroll one summerday and stopped yto visit thedepot. Here aresomenotes ecorded rom whathe remembered s he walkedthrough he depot hat day:"I saw his depotbeing built." "I wasabout enyearsold then. I had to come down hereto pick up thepapers or my newspaperoute." "I watched hem drive pylons nto theground o build thisbuildingwith a steam yle-driver. t wasreally somethingo watch.""Me and my Daddy would go to SundaySchooland thenbuy a ticket to Auburn after11cents o go to CollegeStreet ndspend heday.""Thereused o be two tracksnorthandsouth,and hree rackseastand west. Used ohavea big water ank. Therewas heCentral f Georgia/West oint rackgoing romhere o Roanoke omedowneverymorningandhaveonecoachandhaul schoolchildren.""Therewasan ncline,partdirt andpartsteel. The telegraphoffice wasunder hewatertank outwhere he rackscross).Mr. Warlickwas he elegraph perator, good ella,knewall his childrenandwife too.""Thatstructure e seeover herenow s thecoalchute." "They put the elegraphmessagesndmail too n a big bag. Theyhad a big hook o capture hemail bag f theydidn'tstop.""My daddynew every rain engineer.""EverySunday vening he raindepotwouldbe the gathering lace couldn'tstirwith astickon Sunday vening, veryone oming o seewho was goingwhere,andwho wascoming n.""I'm living within a Yz block rom where wasborn, 1208Third Avenue. Seven f uswasborn at 1109Third Avenue.""Go to SundaySchooleverySunday, eengoingall my life. Standingn thebreezewaybefore hurch tarted ecently nd I didn't know about wo out of ten who went here,used o know everybody.""My daddyhelped uild thatchurch, rinity Methodist.He workedon it anddonatedmoneyandworked reeof charge."

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Opelika Train Depot History