National Historic Landmark

Pennsylvania Railroad Depot And Baggage Room

Dennison, Tuscarawas County, Ohio
Listed
September 7, 1976
Type
Building
Period
Industrial
Ref No.
76001536

About this property

Dennison is a historic railway station located at 400 Center Street in Dennison, Ohio. The depot was built between 1884 and 1900, and the baggage room was built circa 1912. The station is located midway between Dennison and Uhrichsville, Ohio, and served both communities. The depot is best known as the home of the Dennison Depot Salvation Army Servicemen's Canteen during World War II. The canteen, which operated from 1942 through 1946, served refreshments to troop trains passing through Dennison. Dennison native Lucille Nussdorfer proposed the canteen; the Salvation Army and a citizens' committee operated it under the direction of Salvation Army Captain Edward Johnson. As Dennison was a division point on the Pennsylvania Railroad, every train that passed through Dennison stopped there; since the canteen workers vowed to serve every soldier passing through the station, the canteen ultimately served 1.3 million soldiers, 13% of the U.S. forces. 4,000 volunteers, the majority of them women from the surrounding area, worked the canteen during the war; the canteen was the third-largest Salvation Army canteen in the nation. The canteen became well known among soldiers, and its fame spread across the eastern U.S.; it appeared in newspapers as far away as Pittsfield, Massachusetts, was compared favorably to canteens in New York City and Chicago, and led Captain Johnson to become a recognizable figure on the East Coast. Soldiers nicknamed Dennison "Dreamsville, U.S.A.", a reference to an ideal small town in a Glenn Miller song. The station was added to the National Register of Historic Places on September 8, 1976, as the Pennsylvania Railroad Depot and Baggage Room. It was designated as a National Historic Landmark on June 17, 2011. It is now a local history museum, the Dennison Railroad Depot Museum.

Location

400 Center St.
Dennison, Tuscarawas County, Ohio
40.39207, -81.33210

Categories

TRANSPORTATIONSOCIAL HISTORYMILITARY
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

Lanning, T., & Co. Department Store
Industrial
0.1 mi
Dennison High School
Modern
0.2 mi
Railway Chapel, The
Industrial
0.3 mi
Law, Henry, Farm Historic District
Listed
4.9 mi
Gnadenhutten Massacre Site
Listed
6 mi

Questions about this property

When was Pennsylvania Railroad Depot And Baggage Room listed on the National Register?

Pennsylvania Railroad Depot And Baggage Room was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on September 7, 1976.

What type of historic resource is Pennsylvania Railroad Depot And Baggage Room?

Pennsylvania Railroad Depot And Baggage Room is classified as a building in the National Register of Historic Places.

Is Pennsylvania Railroad Depot And Baggage Room a National Historic Landmark?

Yes. Pennsylvania Railroad Depot And Baggage Room has been designated a National Historic Landmark (NHL), the highest level of federal recognition for historic properties in the United States.

What is the period of significance for Pennsylvania Railroad Depot And Baggage Room?

The period of significance for Pennsylvania Railroad Depot And Baggage Room is recorded as the industrial era.

Can I research the history near Pennsylvania Railroad Depot And Baggage Room?

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