Historic Depot Opens at Southeastern Railway Museum

Posted @ Sep. 16 2011 11:51AM by Ray - arts-entertainment

An historic train station, built in 1871 to serve the city of Duluth, Georgia, is now restored and will soon be open to the public at the Southeastern Railway Museum. "This historic structure was once a major gateway to our region," said museum Administrator Randy Pirkle. "After nearly a century of service to passengers and decades of use as an office, we are proud to have the opportunity to open the restored Duluth depot to the public once more." The depot was built by a predecessor of the Southern Railway, part of today's Norfolk Southern Corp., and was one of several constructed in the area in 1871.

The railroad primarily served the cotton trade, which was cultivated on a reported 50,000 acres in the area. At the time, Forsyth and Milton counties had no rail service, and the addition of the passenger station at Duluth made the city a center for shipping and commercial travel. Rail travel offered convenient access to Atlanta for business and shopping. The evening arrival of "Belle", one of the daily trains to and from the city, became a popular gathering time for local residents. Declines in passenger service and changes in rail freight led to the closing of the Duluth depot by the early 1950s. Eventually, the Southern Railway, which then owned the property, encouraged the City of Duluth to find a use for the building. The city lacked the resources to do so, however, and in 1975 the building was moved by the late Scott Hudgens, a local developer, to the site on Pleasant Hill Road where the Joan Glancy Hospital is located today. The depot was used as an office for a major development project in progress at the time.

In 1986 Mr. Hudgens again moved the depot, this time across Pleasant Hill Road to the W. P. Jones Park. There, the City of Duluth used the building as a police substation and an office for city parks personnel and related recreation programs. In August 2008 the depot was moved to a prominent position at the entrance to the Southeastern Railway Museum on Buford Highway. Under a lease agreement between the City and the museum, the City retains ownership of the depot and the museum is responsible for restoring the building and operating it as an historic exhibit. So it is that, after providing a variety of services to generations of Duluth residents, the depot once again welcomes visitors, across from the same railroad line it faced when it was put into service 140 years ago. A Grand Opening celebration is scheduled for 3:00 PM Sunday, September 18 at the Southeastern Railway Museum. The museum is located at 3595 Buford Highway in Duluth, just east of Pleasant Hill Road. The Southeastern Railway Museum, in operation since 1970, is Georgia's Official Transportation History Museum. Occupying a 35-acre site in Duluth, Georgia, the museum offers exhibits dealing with the history and importance of transportation in the development of the state and the region. The collection includes roughly 90 pieces of railroad rolling stock, including historic locomotives, passenger and freight cars, and maintenance vehicles. The museum also exhibits historic automobiles, firefighting equipment, and buses from MARTA and its predecessors. Because many of the exhibits are outdoors, the Southeastern Railway Museum varies its operating hours seasonally. Current days and hours, along with educational programming and other information, are available on the museum website at SoutheasternRailwayMuseum.org.