Central of Georgia Depot and Trainshed (Savannah, Georgia)

Last updated
Savannah History Museum
Savannah, GA USA Central of Georgia terminal.JPG
The old Central of Georgia terminal building in 2015, now a visitor center
Central of Georgia Depot and Trainshed (Savannah, Georgia)
Location303 Martin Luther King, Jr. Boulevard
Savannah, Georgia
United States
TypeHistory
Website http://www.chsgeorgia.org/history-museum.html
Central of Georgia Depot and Trainshed
Central of Georgia Railway, Passenger Station (Savannah, Georgia).jpg
Central of Georgia Railway, Passenger Station in 1976
USA Georgia location map.svg
Red pog.svg
Usa edcp location map.svg
Red pog.svg
LocationW. Louisville and E. Liberty Sts., Savannah, Georgia
Coordinates 32°04′34″N81°05′57″W / 32.07607°N 81.09923°W / 32.07607; -81.09923
Built1860;164 years ago (1860)
Architect Augustus Schwaab
Part of Central of Georgia Railroad: Savannah Shops and Terminal Facilities (ID78000970)
NRHP reference No. 76000610
Significant dates
Added to NRHPDecember 8, 1976;47 years ago (1976-12-08) [1]
Designated NHLDecember 8, 1976;47 years ago (1976-12-08) [2]
Designated NHLDCPJune 2, 1978;46 years ago (1978-06-02)

Central of Georgia Depot and Trainshed is a former passenger depot and trainshed constructed in 1860 by the Central of Georgia Railway (CofG) before the outbreak of the American Civil War. This pair of buildings was declared a National Historic Landmark in 1976, [2] [3] a listing that was expanded in 1978 to the old Central of Georgia Railway Savannah Shops and Terminal Facilities. [4]

Contents

Located on the northwest corner of Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard and Louisville Road in the city's historic downtown, the red brick passenger terminal of the CofG complex houses the Savannah Visitor Center and the Savannah History Museum. The site complex includes several notable structures, including cotton yard, a blacksmith shop, a brick viaduct and the trainshed, as well as an office car and caboose. It is owned by the Coastal Heritage Society, a non-profit organization dedicated to preserving the cultural heritage of coastal Georgia and adjacent regions.

The Savannah History Museum is located at 303 Martin Luther King, Jr. Boulevard (Georgia State Route 25 Connector). The museum is housed inside the old passenger terminal. It contains artifacts and exhibits relating to the history of Savannah from its establishment to the current time. [5] The shops and terminal facilities were listed separately on June 2, 1978, and the Coastal Heritage Society opened the museum on the site in 1989. [6]

Passenger trains in the station

The Central of Georgia operated several trains to the station, on an Atlanta (Terminal Station) - Macon (Terminal Station) - Savannah itinerary. The last of these was the Nancy Hanks II, operating to 1971, when Amtrak assumed most passenger train operations in the United States. [7] [8]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Thurmond, West Virginia</span> Town in West Virginia, United States

Thurmond is a town in Fayette County, West Virginia, United States, on the New River. The population was five at the 2020 census. During the heyday of coal mining in the New River Gorge, Thurmond was a prosperous town with a number of businesses and facilities for the Chesapeake and Ohio Railway.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Baltimore Penn Station</span> Intercity rail station in Maryland

Baltimore Penn Station—formally, Baltimore Pennsylvania Station—is the main inter-city passenger rail hub in Baltimore, Maryland. Designed by New York City architect Kenneth MacKenzie Murchison (1872–1938), it was constructed in 1911 in the Beaux-Arts style of architecture for the Pennsylvania Railroad. It is located at 1515 N. Charles Street, about a mile and a half north of downtown and the Inner Harbor, between the Mount Vernon neighborhood to the south, and Station North to the north. Originally called Union Station because it served the Pennsylvania Railroad and Western Maryland Railway, it was renamed to match the PRR's other main stations in 1928.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Union Station (New Haven)</span> Railroad station in Connecticut

New Haven Union Station is the main railroad passenger station in New Haven, Connecticut. It is the third such station in the city of New Haven, preceded by both an 1848 built station in a different location, and an 1879 built station near the current station's location. Designed by noted American architect Cass Gilbert, the present beaux-arts Union Station was completed and opened in 1920 after the previous Union Station was destroyed by fire. It served the New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad for the next five decades, but fell into decline following World War II along with the United States railroad industry as a whole.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Central of Georgia Railway</span> Railroad constructed to join Macon, Georgia, and Savannah, Georgia

The Central of Georgia Railway started as the Central Rail Road and Canal Company in 1833. As a way to better attract investment capital, the railroad changed its name to Central Rail Road and Banking Company of Georgia. This railroad was constructed to join the Macon and Western Railroad at Macon, Georgia, in the United States, and run to Savannah. This created a rail link from Chattanooga, on the Tennessee River, to seaports on the Atlantic Ocean. It took from 1837 to 1843 to build the railroad from Savannah to the eastern bank of the Ocmulgee River at Macon; a bridge into the city was not built until 1851.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Richmond Main Street Station</span> Railway station in Richmond VA

Richmond Main Street Station, officially the Main Street Station and Trainshed, is a historic railroad station and office building in Richmond, Virginia. It was built in 1901, and is served by Amtrak. It is also an intermodal station with Richmond's city transit bus services, which are performed by Greater Richmond Transit Company (GRTC). The station is colloquially known by residents as The Clock Tower. It was listed to the National Register of Historic Places in 1970, and in 1976 was made a U.S. National Historic Landmark. Main Street Station serves as a secondary train station for Richmond providing limited Amtrak service directly to downtown Richmond. Several Amtrak trains serving the Richmond metropolitan area only stop at the area's primary rail station, Staples Mill Road which is located five miles to the north in Henrico County.

The Western Railway of Alabama (WRA) also seen as "WofA" was created as the Western Railroad of Alabama by the owners of the Montgomery & West Point Railroad (M&WP) in 1860. It was built to further the M&WP's development West from Montgomery, Alabama to Selma, Alabama. When the line was constructed in 1870, the M&WP was merged into the WRA, creating a line from Selma to West Point, Georgia. It served Auburn, Alabama and connected in Opelika, Alabama to the Central of Georgia line from Columbus, Georgia to Birmingham, Alabama. Although it was partially owned by the Central of Georgia around the turn from the nineteenth to the twentieth century, it did not end up being owned by Norfolk Southern when that company came into existence due to the merger of the CofG's parent, the Southern Railway, and the Norfolk & Western Railway.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Reading Terminal</span> Former rail station in Philadelphia

The Reading Terminal is a complex of buildings that includes the former Reading Company main station located in the Market East section of Center City in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. It comprises the Reading Terminal Headhouse, Trainshed, and Market.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Harrisburg Transportation Center</span> Intermodal station in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania

The Harrisburg Transportation Center is a railway station and transportation hub in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. It is located on the eastern edge of Downtown Harrisburg between the intersections of Aberdeen and Market Streets and 4th and Chestnut Streets.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Savannah station (Amtrak)</span> Amtrak station in Georgia, US

Savannah station is an Amtrak train station in Savannah, Georgia. The station was built in 1962 to replace the older Savannah Union Station, torn down for construction of I-16. Located at 2611 Seaboard Coastline Drive, the station consists of a terminal building on the east side of the north–south tracks, with a platform between the tracks.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Union Station (Meridian, Mississippi)</span> Train station in Meridian, Mississippi, U.S.

Union Station, also called the Meridian Multi-Modal Transportation Center, is an intermodal transportation center in Meridian, Mississippi. The station is located at 1901 Front Street in the Union Station Historic District within the larger Meridian Downtown Historic District, both of which are listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Consisting of a new addition and renovated surviving wing of the 1906 building, Union Station was officially dedicated on December 11, 1997. It is a center of several modes of passenger transportation, including Amtrak train service on the Norfolk Southern rail corridor, Greyhound, and other providers of bus services.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Montgomery Union Station</span>

Montgomery Union Station and Trainshed is a historic former train station in Montgomery, Alabama. Built in 1898 by the Louisville and Nashville Railroad, rail service to the station ended in 1979 and it has since been adapted for use by the Montgomery Area Visitor Center and commercial tenants. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1973 and became a National Historic Landmark in 1976.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Thurmond station</span> Train station in Thurmond, West Virginia, United States

Thurmond station is a train station in Thurmond, West Virginia, United States, that is served by Amtrak, the national railroad passenger system. The Cardinal, which runs three times each week between Chicago, Illinois and Washington, DC, passes by the station three times each week in both directions. The station is on CSX Transportation's New River Line and is located on the east bank of the New River.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">St. Albans station (Vermont)</span> Amtrak station in St. Albans, Vermont

St. Albans station is an Amtrak train station in St. Albans, Vermont, United States. It is the northern terminus of the daily Vermonter service.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Savannah Union Station</span> Former railway station in Savannah, Georgia, United States

Savannah Union Station was a train station in Savannah, Georgia. It was located at 419–435 West Broad Street, between Stewart and Roberts Streets. It incorporated the Atlantic Coast Line Railroad, the Seaboard Air Line Railroad and the Southern Railway. While the term, union station, in the United States generally implies a station that hosts all train companies stopping in a city, the Central of Georgia and the Savannah and Atlanta Railway used other stations in Savannah.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Georgia State Railroad Museum</span> United States historic place

The Georgia State Railroad Museum is a museum in Savannah, Georgia located at a historic Central of Georgia Railway site. It includes parts of the Central of Georgia Railway: Savannah Shops and Terminal Facilities National Historic Landmark District. The complex is considered the most complete antebellum railroad complex in the United States. The museum, located at 655 Louisville Road, is part of a historic district included in the National Register of Historic Places.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Central of Georgia Railway Company Shop Property</span> United States historic place

Central of Georgia Railway Company Shop Property is the former administration building of the Central of Georgia Railway. The site complex includes several notable structures, including a freight house, a cotton yard with brick gates which it shares with the Central of Georgia Depot and Trainshed, and a brick viaduct leading to a junction with the line along Louisville Road west of Boundary Street and the Savannah and Ogeechee Canal. The tracks were also located next to "The Gray Building," a Greek Revival structure built in 1856, which the C&G moved their headquarters to. This building became known as "The Red Building."

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Southern Railway Spencer Shops</span> United States historic place

The Southern Railway Spencer Shops are a former locomotive repair facility in Spencer, North Carolina. The shops were one of the Southern Railway's primary maintenance facilities. The shops were built in the 1890s and named after Southern Railway president Samuel Spencer. Following dieselization, the need for the Spencer Shops diminished, and the facilities were decommissioned in the 1970s. The Spencer Shops and associated land were donated by the Southern Railway to the state of North Carolina, which established the North Carolina Transportation Museum on the site.

Central of Georgia Railroad Terminal or Central of Georgia Depot may refer to:

<span class="mw-page-title-main">SCAD Museum of Art</span> Art museum in Georgia, United States

The SCAD Museum of Art was founded in 2002 as part of the Savannah College of Art and Design in Savannah, Georgia, and originally was known as the Earle W. Newton Center for British American Studies.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Augustus Schwaab</span> German-born American architect

Carl August Schwaab, commonly known as Augustus Schwaab, was a German-American architect and civil engineer. He was principally a designer of commercial architecture, best known for his work in Savannah, Georgia, where he worked for around fifty years.

References

  1. "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places . National Park Service. January 23, 2007.
  2. 1 2 "Central of Georgia Railroad Shops and Terminal". National Historic Landmark summary listing. National Park Service. Archived from the original on 2009-01-31. Retrieved 2008-04-20.
  3. Eric N. DeLony (February 15, 1978). "National Register of Historic Places Inventory-Nomination: Central of Georgia Railway: Savannah Shops & Terminal Facilities" (pdf). National Park Service.{{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help) (includes 7 pages of drawings) and Accompanying 13 photos, from 1976, 1973, and 1962 (of which 3 show the Depot that is part of the NHL)  (32 KB)
  4. "UNESCO World Heritage Site Tentative List Nomination for Central of Georgia Railway: Savannah Shops and Terminal Facilities" (PDF). National Park Service (via Google cache). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2018-03-15. Retrieved 2015-12-16.
  5. Savannah History Museum. "Savannah History Museum" brochure, circa 2007.
  6. Coastal Heritage Society. "Georgia State Railroad Museum." Archived 2015-04-24 at the Wayback Machine Accessed 2015-08-09.
  7. "Central of Georgia Railway, Table 1". Official Guide of the Railways. 102 (12). National Railway Publication Company. May 1970.
  8. "Passenger Trains Operating on the Eve of Amtrak" Trains magazine http://ctr.trains.com/~/media/import/files/pdf/f/7/7/passenger_trains_operating_on_the_eve_of_amtrak.pdf Archived 2012-08-26 at the Wayback Machine
Preceding station Central of Georgia Railway Following station
West Savannah
toward Atlanta
Main LineTerminus

Commons-logo.svg Media related to Central of Georgia Depot and Trainshed at Wikimedia Commons