Southern Railway Depot
National Register of Historic Places

Southern Railway Depot

Decatur, Morgan County, Alabama
Listed
March 10, 1980
Type
Building
Period
Industrial
Ref No.
80004470

About this property

Decatur station is a former train station in Decatur, Alabama. The depot was built in 1904–05 along the Southern Railway line. Decatur had become a transportation hub of North Alabama by the 1870s, with its connections to the Tennessee River, the east–west Tuscumbia, Courtland and Decatur Railroad (later operated by the Memphis and Charleston Railroad and the Southern Railway), and the north–south Louisville and Nashville Railroad. The Southern's last train through the city was the Tennessean (Memphis-Washington, D.C., discontinued, 1968). The last train by the L&N, and the train with the last route going south toward Alabama's largest cities, was the Pan-American, (Cincinnati-New Orleans) which ended in 1971. Other L&N trains passing through were the Azalean (Cincinnati-New Orleans) and the Humming Bird (Cincinnati-New Orleans). The depot last functioned as a passenger station in 1979, when Amtrak cancelled its (Chicago-St. Petersburg / Miami) Floridian service. The station is built of brick painted white, with quoins on the corners. The building has a rectangular central section with narrower wings stretching along the tracks. The central section has a hipped roof, while the wings have gable roofs; both have deep eaves with decorative brackets. The main entrance is covered by a porte-cochère with arched openings. The depot was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1980.

Location

701 Railroad St., NW
Decatur, Morgan County, Alabama
34.61353, -86.98648

Categories

TRANSPORTATIONARCHITECTURE
National Register nomination ›
Sources

Property data from the National Register of Historic Places, National Park Service (public domain).

Description adapted from Wikipedia under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

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Nearby Historic Sites

Dancy, Col. Francis, House
Industrial
0.1 mi
State Bank Building, Decatur Branch
Industrial
0.1 mi
Bank Street Historic District
Listed
0.2 mi
Bank Street-Old Decatur Historic District (Boundary Increase)
Listed
0.3 mi
Rhea-McEntire House
Early Republic
0.3 mi

Questions about this property

When was Southern Railway Depot listed on the National Register?

Southern Railway Depot was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on March 10, 1980.

What type of historic resource is Southern Railway Depot?

Southern Railway Depot is classified as a building in the National Register of Historic Places.

What is the period of significance for Southern Railway Depot?

The period of significance for Southern Railway Depot is recorded as the industrial era, specifically around 1904.

Can I research the history near Southern Railway Depot?

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