Everand Logo

Welcome to Everand!

  • Discover millions of ebooks, audiobooks, and so much more with a free trial

    Only $11.99/month after trial. Cancel anytime.

    Railroad Depots of Central Ohio
    Railroad Depots of Central Ohio
    Railroad Depots of Central Ohio
    Ebook168 pages51 minutes

    Railroad Depots of Central Ohio

    By Mark J . Camp

    ()

    Read preview

    About this ebook

    By the mid-1850s, the railroad craze had hit central Ohio. Pioneer railroads that were to evolve into portions of the Baltimore and Ohio, New York Central, and Pennsylvania Railroads connected the state capital, Columbus, with the canals, Lake Erie, and the Ohio River. The region was crisscrossed by numerous other lines by 1880; Columbus became the main hub while other railroad centers included Circleville, Delaware, Mansfield, Mount Vernon, Newark, and Zanesville. Hundreds of depots were built throughout central Ohio to serve railroad passengers and to handle baggage, mail, and freight. Depots became the center of commerce and activity at communities—big and small. With the discontinuance of passenger trains across the Buckeye State, many depots disappeared from trackside—many simply demolished, others relocated for non-railroad uses. Railroad Depots of Central Ohio offers a pictorial history of selected depots, centering around Columbus and Franklin County, using old postcards and vintage photographs.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherArcadia Publishing
    Release dateOct 20, 2008
    ISBN9781439636893
    Railroad Depots of Central Ohio
    Author

    Mark J . Camp

    Mark J. Camp, a geology professor at the University of Toledo, serves as a national director of the Railroad Station Historical Society. His other Images of Rail titles include Railroad Depots of Northwest Ohio and Railroad Depots of West Central Ohio.

    Read more from Mark J . Camp

    Related to Railroad Depots of Central Ohio

    Related ebooks

    United States History For You

    View More
    View More

    Related podcast episodes

    Related articles

    • Article

      RV Upgrade

      Feb 25, 2022

      RV Upgrade
      4 min read

    • Article

      Gas Engine Magazine

      Mar 15, 2019

      From start to finish, Peter Rooke’s newly revised, easy-to-follow narrative will impress and educate both new and experienced hobbyists with exhaustive coverage of the process. In 112 pages, Rooke meticulously leads you from stripping an engine throu

      6 min read

    • Article

      Puckety Chute

      Mar 1, 2018

      Puckety Chute
      17 min read

    • Article

      Off the Rails

      Jul 23, 2019

      Off the Rails
      12 min read

    • Article

      A Night at York in 1971

      Jan 26, 2024

      A Night at York in 1971
      11 min read

    • Article

      Britain’s Busiest Celebrates 175 Years

      Aug 1, 2023

      THE restoration of LSWR Adams 4-4-0 T3 No. 563 to working order at Bill Parker’s Flour Mill workshop, as reported in Headline News 8-9 in this issue, narrowly missed out on being completed in time for it to bring a special Victorian train into Waterl

      5 min read

    • Article

      Tracking Progress

      Mar 26, 2019

      Tracking Progress
      2 min read

    • Article

      The Brontës, BY RAIL

      May 2, 2022

      The Brontës, BY RAIL
      11 min read

    • Article

      Book Reviews

      May 20, 2021

      Right Away: The Railways of East Anglia by Douglas Bourn, published by Bridge Publishing, Lowestoft, NR32 3BB. Available from www.poppyland.co.uk. Softback, 159 pages Illustrations and maps in text. £9.95. ISBN 978-1-869831--332 In this delightful ne

      8 min read

    • Article

      Readers’ Platform

      May 30, 2022

      Readers’ Platform
      4 min read

    • Article

      Tracking Omaha’s Past

      Mar 24, 2020

      Tracking Omaha’s Past
      3 min read

    • Article

      Crazy Train

      Sep 12, 2020

      Crazy Train
      4 min read

    • Article

      Army Trucks & Steam Trains

      Jan 1, 2024

      Army Trucks & Steam Trains
      2 min read

    • Article

      Heading Off THE RAILS

      Jan 1, 2022

      Everyone who’s been close to me knows I’ve always lived and breathed airplanes. Whether it be working on them, flying them, photographing them, writing about them, or reading about them, airplanes have always been part of my life. What everyone doesn

      3 min read

    • Article

      617 Publications So Far... And There’s A Lot More To Come!

      Jun 3, 2018

      VIC Mitchell is a remarkable figure in railway publishing. Who else can claim to have made his mark with 617 publications - and the number is still rising. After more than 35 years, there can’t be many enthusiasts who haven’t got at least one Middlet

      9 min read

    • Article

      Book Reviews

      Aug 18, 2022

      |★★★★★ Excellent|★★★★ Very Good|★★★ Good|★★ Fair|★ Poor| by Philip M. Lloyd, published by Pen and Sword, hardback, 276 pages, priced £30. ISBN 978 1 52674 919 2 It is 50 years since the first volume of Peter Baughan’s history, one of what were then t

      5 min read

    • Article

      Editorial

      May 18, 2023

      There are quite a few things on the railways which seem to have quietly disappeared over the years… comfortable seats, seats with leg-room for anbody over about 5ft 9in, luggage racks you can actually get luggage on, windows to look out of, carriages

      4 min read

    • Article

      It Started In Sheffield…

      Dec 17, 2021

      It Started In Sheffield…
      3 min read

    • Article

      All Aboard!

      Jan 1, 2023

      All Aboard!
      7 min read

    • Article

      Devon Transition from Steam

      Jul 4, 2023

      FOR those of us who were southernbased trainspotters as the postwar 1950s gave way to the Swinging Sixties and steam conceded the upper hand to diesels, BR’s six regions tended to have associations in our adolescent minds, writes Geoff Courtney. The

      3 min read

    • Article

      Suffolk

      Dec 10, 2021

      Suffolk
      2 min read

    • Article

      A Phoenix From The Ashes

      Mar 4, 2019

      A Phoenix From The Ashes
      10 min read

    • Article

      Canal Continuity

      Sep 24, 2019

      Canal Continuity
      1 min read

    • Article

      Reviews

      Jul 31, 2023

      Edited by David Gowan AT THE core of this interesting booklet are 64 previously unpublished monochrome pictures by Vernon Parry taken during the final days of steam over the Aberystwyth to Carmarthen line around the Lampeter area and, in particular,

      3 min read

    Related categories

    Reviews for Railroad Depots of Central Ohio

    0 ratings

    0 ratings0 reviews

    What did you think?

    Tap to rate

    Review must be at least 10 words

      Book preview

      Railroad Depots of Central Ohio - Mark J . Camp

      1830–1989.

      INTRODUCTION

      The initial growth and prosperity of many small communities in central Ohio was dependent on the railroads built through this region in the mid- to late 1800s. Shelby welcomed its first passenger train in 1846 along the Monroeville and Sandusky City Railroad; by 1851, trains of the Cleveland, Columbus and Cincinnati Railroad were stopping at Shelby Junction. The first lines to enter Columbus were the Columbus and Xenia Railroad in 1850, the Cleveland, Columbus and Cincinnati Railroad in 1851, and the Central Ohio and Columbus, Piqua and Indiana Railroads in 1853. The Springfield, Delaware and Mount Vernon Railroad served Delaware and Marysville by 1854. Mansfield and Newark were connected by the Columbus and Lake Erie Railroad in 1852. By 1857, the Cincinnati, Wilmington and Zanesville Railroad reached Bremen. These lines eventually came under control of the Baltimore and Ohio, New York Central, and Pennsylvania lines and were joined in the later 1800s by predecessors of the Chesapeake and Ohio Railway; Detroit, Toledo and Ironton Railroad; Norfolk and Western Railway; and more New York Central and Pennsylvania Railroad precursors.

      The railroads were responsible for the platting of a number of towns including Brice and Summit Station. At each town, a depot was eventually erected to handle passenger and freight business. Depots were also necessary at railroad junctions to provide a means of interchange. It is estimated that during the heyday of railroad travel, some 265 depots dotted the central counties of Ohio.

      The first depots were often small utilitarian structures, sometimes a mere roof over a wood or gravel platform. Others rather looked like barns through which the trains ran, for example the 1862 Columbus union station. If a community already existed, a hotel or inn might have served as the initial depot. As railroad travel became the fashion, depots evolved into a standard three-room structure with space for the agent and staff, a passenger waiting room, and a freight room. Beginning in the late 1800s, railroad construction crews modified some depots by lengthening the freight and or passenger ends to fit the local needs. In larger towns and cities, for example Delaware and Mount Vernon, separate passenger, baggage, and freight depots were erected; while in smaller communities like Pickerington and Ostrander, combination passenger-freight depots were the rule. As towns grew in population and importance to the railroad, the original combination depot may have been converted to freight use and a new passenger depot constructed; such was the case at Delaware on the Cleveland, Cincinnati, Chicago and St. Louis Railroad (Big Four) line. A union depot or station was a design serving two or more railroads, often constructed at junction points, for example Lancaster and Mansfield, or in major rail hubs, like Columbus.

      The town depot rapidly became the gathering place for the local populace. Before the common use of radios and telephones, the depot was the communication center to the outside world. News arrived daily over the telegraph and from passengers and trainmen. The depot was commonly open 24 hours with varying numbers of local, express, and mail trains arriving at scheduled intervals. Near train-time, the depot became a beehive of activity. Inside, the waiting room was often jammed with travelers and well-wishers, either sitting on the robust hardwood benches or milling about, scanning the colorful advertisements and travel posters plastered on the walls. A line of travelers stretched into the center of the room from the little wrought iron grid of the ticket window behind which a uniformed clerk and agent hurriedly filled requests. The distant blast of the familiar whistle acted as a magnet, drawing people out onto the platform. Here a baggage clerk busily readied wagons piled high with luggage and mail. A newsboy hawked papers, as the train hissed into the station with bell ringing, handing them to passengers on the train through open coach windows. Greetings were exchanged as friends and relatives returned home and others debarked on their journeys. Horse-drawn buggies from local hotels awaited visitors in search of a place to stay. After a few routine maintenance checks the train was on its way again. In the depot office, the telegrapher was sending word to the next station that the train had left on time.

      The arrival of the automobile spelled doom for railroad passenger service, and by the end of World War II, many trains had been discontinued and depots abandoned. Many were demolished, burned, or allowed to decay to the point that they collapsed, some were relocated and used in various ways, and others were used for storage or maintenance operations by the railroad. With the continued decline of passenger service in the 1950s and 1960s, only a few depots remained open to passengers, namely those in major towns. Many were demoted to strictly freight use; many lost their agent. Amtrak brought renewed life to a select few of the still-existing depots in 1971. But the service was short-lived, and once again, central Ohio was without passenger trains.

      Following is a compilation of photographs, many taken from early postcards—an attempt to present the wide variety of structures once present and to emphasize their importance to their respective communities in 17 central Ohio counties. The boundaries of this study are roughly Richland, Morrow, and Delaware Counties to the north; Union, Madison, and Fayette

      Enjoying the preview?
      Page 1 of 1