The heyday of railway travel may long be gone, but the nostalgic allure of architecturally inspiring infrastructure and travelling the country by rail has ensured we’ll never tire of seeing the grandeur and timelessness of our historic station buildings.
With the recent publicity of an admitted long shot effort to bring Amtrak’s Sunset Limited back to the Gulf Coast — precipitating in a publicity ride of the once transcontinental train from New Orleans to Jacksonville this week — we decided to take a look back at the railroad’s glory days on the Gulf Coast.
1. Pensacola & Atlantic Railroad Passenger Station
Pensacola Louisville and Nashville Railway station, 1910 (Special to The Pulse)
The Pensacola Railroad connected Pensacola with the large, prosperous Louisville and Nashville Railroad. The Pensacola Railroad had become a subsidiary of the L&N on October 20, 1880. After the L&N took control of P&A, construction on the station was completed in 22 months .This two-story wooden structure was replaced in 1912 by a larger L&N passenger station of brick and stucco, at the corner of Wright and Alcaniz streets.
A closer view of the L&N station in 1910 looking west towards Tarragona Street, where libations for the parched traveler are a mere stagger away. CSX nows owns the former L&N tracks that terminate at the Port of Pensacola.
A closer view of the L&N station in 1910. (Special to the Pulse)
2. Louisville and Nashville Depot and Express Office, Pensacola
The L&N Passenger Depot and Express Office was built in 1912 as the major passenger station for the Louisville & Nashville Railroad that serviced Pensacola. The depot was in service until the last passenger train rolled out of the station in April 1971.
(Special to The Pulse)
The depot was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1979 and is now home to the lobby of the Crowne Plaza Pensacola Grand Hotel, the CAVU Club bar and restaurant 1912.
Crowne Plaza Grand Hotel(Special to The Pulse)
(Special to The Pulse)
3. Frisco Passenger Station, Pensacola
The Frisco passenger station was a Mission Revival-style structure at the corner of Garden Street and Coyle Street in downtown Pensacola, now the site of AT&T offices. Frisco locomotive #1355 is placed at this location in commemoration of the former passenger depot, demolished in 1967.
(Special to The Pulse)
The St. Louis-San Francisco Railway Company, widely known as the “Frisco,” was a rail line from the late 1800s into the early 1980s. It was one of two railways that directly served the city of Pensacola, sharing access to the Port of Pensacola with the more popular Louisville & Nashville Railroad. It also provided passenger service to and from from Pensacola from its arrival in 1928 until the cessation of passenger service in 1955.
(Special to The Pulse)
4. Gulf, Mobile and Ohio Passenger Terminal, Mobile
The Gulf Mobile & Ohio railroad constructed its corporate headquarters and home terminal in Mobile, Alabama in 1907. The building was designed by P. Thorton Mayre in the Mission Revival style. After the discontinuation of passenger service in the 1950s, the building became home to the GM&O railroad’s offices.
(Special to The Pulse)
In 1975, the building was placed of the National Register of Historic places. The railroad discontinued use of the building in 1986 and it was left to deteriorate over the next ten years.
A closer look at the terminal as passengers and passersby are seen on Beauregard Street. (Special to The Pulse)
In 2001, the City of Mobile and private developers invested more than $18 million to restore the local landmark taking advantage of the Federal Historic Preservation Tax Incentive program. Today, the building houses private offices and the city’s Metro Transit Authority.
(Special to The Pulse)
The Gulf, Mobile, and Ohio Passenger Terminal is noted for its architecture. Built in the Mission Revival style, the train station building served as an elegant gateway for the city of Mobile.
(Special to The Pulse)
5. Louisville and Nashville Passenger Depot, Milton
The original depot built in Milton. The ticket office and waiting room is to the right, while the elevated freight section is to the left. Notice the water barrels attached to the roofline, an early fire-control measure.
(Special to The Pulse)
(Special to The Pulse)
6. Molino Railroad Depot
(Special to The Pulse)
7. Louisville & Nashville Railroad Depot, Crestview
Back in the 19th century, if you were traveling across the Gulf Coast by train you’d have made a brief stop at a little make-shift train depot operating out of a single box car which sat at the crest of the hill among the woodlands between the Yellow and Shoal Rivers. This was the future site of Crestview, then called Crest View Station.
In 1890, the P&A Railroad built an official wood frame depot building with waiting areas and freight room the same location.
The Crestview L&N Depot, built in in 1891, was the original namesake of the town — Crest View Station. (Special to The Pulse)
8. Louisville & Nashville Railroad Depot, Defuniak Springs
Defuniak Springs was founded by the officers of the Pensacola and Atlantic Railroad, a subsidiary of the Louisville and Nashville Railroad.
Defuniak Springs passenger depot. (Special to The Pulse)
The L&N did much to develop Defuniak — named after Frederick R. De Funiak, a vice-president of the railroad company — by encouraging the Florida Chautauqua Assembly, an adult education movement in the United States popular in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
Crowd gathered for arrival of Saturday excursion train, 1915. (Special to The Pulse)
Defuniak Springs L&N Depot, 1937. (Special to The Pulse)