Encore: Railroad Depot

THE HISTORIC HUNTSVILLE RAILROAD DEPOT – OUR STORY TO SAVE

Written by Nancy Wilkinson Van Valkenburgh Photos by Richard Van Valkenburgh

A building of architectural and historic significance stands in magnificent loneliness in downtown Huntsville. It tells an important part of our city’s and our nation’s story. It is the Huntsville Railroad Depot.

Born in prosperity, threatened in war, the Depot served in many ways. Today it is endangered by a wealth that splinters attention among multiple other interests. Once a symbol of the growing business life of our area and recruited to promote commerce, it was a source of pride and hope.

Huntsville’s first great industry was this railroad. The Memphis & Charleston Railroad Company began a route from Memphis to Chattanooga on May 21, 1851. The first run was on October 13, 1855 when the “General Garth” came twenty miles from Decatur to Huntsville and was greeted by an enthusiastic crowd.

The idea of transporting the important cotton and other crops had been around since the late 1820’s. It took time for the idea to develop, state charters obtained, and land to be acquired. Huntsville was chosen as the Eastern Division Headquarters of the Memphis & Charleston Railroad Company in 1860.

Crops could be moved west to the Mississippi River, to the Gulf Coast or to seaports on the Eastern coast. Negotiations to reach the nation and the world were much like those in the 20th century to connect Huntsville to the nationwide highway system and to airports.

Huntsvillians had to buy company stock to insure that the railroad would go through Huntsville. The county also made an investment, approved by the people on a vote of 1195 to 726. passenger station, a new 70 x 58’ three-story building was completed on July 1, 1860. The ticket office was on the first floor.

Political divisions in the nation led to a terrible civil war. On April 12, 1861, the war began when a shot was fired on Ft. Sumter, S.C. The order was given by Leroy Pope Walker of Huntsville, Secretary of War of the Confederate States.

One year later, on April 11, 1862, General O. M. Mitchel commanded Federal troops sent to Huntsville to capture the railroad’s Eastern Headquarters. His objective was

to break the east-west connection of the southern states.

Among the equipment he captured was a train carrying 159 Confederate soldiers returning from the Battle of Shiloh. Some were too wounded to be moved and were left in the box car. The rest were taken to the third floor of the depot. Their graffiti writing remains there to this day. After 10 days, they were transferred to Camp Chase, Ohio, a prisoner of war camp.

The Union Army stayed in Huntsville until late 1862, came back in July 1863 briefly, then left and returned several times. Finally they returned in November to occupy the city through the winter of 1864.

After the war, the U. S. government returned the almost ruined railroad line to Memphis & Charleston. The company was not able to recover and finally went bankrupt. Southern Railway System bought the line on February 26, 1898.

The Depot remained mostly unchanged until 1912 when the interior was remodeled to serve the public. It was one of the finest stations in the entire Southern Railway System. In the late 1960’s, Southern Railway discontinued passenger service through the city. Register of Historic Places. Work was done by preservationists, largely led by Catherine Kelly Gilliam. This designation kept the Federal Highway System (now I-565) from choosing a route that would endanger the Depot. For her preservation work, Catherine received the Distinguished Service Award from the Alabama Historic Commission.

On October 28, 1971, the city gave final approval to purchase the Depot. Plans began to preserve it and open it to the public. It was decided to restore it to the 1912 configuration.

It was used for many events, but when the pressures of competing projects took up money, it fell out of the public eye. During the pandemic of 2020 and 2021, it was nearly forgotten.

Where there is a will, there is a way, and this Huntsville Railroad Depot tells that story – the Huntsville story of moving forward to better the community, to overcome challenges up to and including war, and to save our story to give to future generations. The Depot – it is Our Story to save. n