Southern Railway Terminal Station, Bessemer Alabama
- Categories:
- Alabama
- Railroad Facility
- Passenger Station
The Bessemer Southern Railway Terminal is an excellent example of a small town railroad terminal constructed in the early 1900s. Built by the Alabama Great Southern Railroad as the result of a direct order by the Railroad Commissioner, the building stands as a monument to the importance of Bessemer, one of the early industrial towns of Alabama.
Bessemer was founded in 1887 as a result of the iron and steel making boom in Jefferson County. The town founder, Henry Debardeleben, noted that the coal and iron beds which lay in close proximity to the town "were intended by nature to feed some great creature." He was correct, and the town prospered. Around the turn of the century, Bessemer, which had a population of 6,358, was served by five railroads none of which offered more than a one-room shack for passengers.
In February of 1906, a group of citizens who called themselves the Bessemer Board of Trade invited the Railroad Commissioner to inspect the terminal buildings. He found them "Unfit to keep cattle in."
As a result the lines which served Bessemer were ordered jointly to build a Union Station. No agreement was reached by the lines and consequently the town continued to use the five wooden shacks.
In 1915 the Railroad Commission was called in again and proposals were heard. The Railroad Commissioner, Charles Henderson, who was running for governor, decreed that the Union Station was not necessary as long as each line built its own terminal. After the election of Henderson, the new Railroad Commissioner, B. H. Cooper, visited the town and ordered both the L & N and Alabama Great Southern systems to erect a new station within 60 days. It was specified that AGS would spend $30,000.
This railway system decided to employ its own building and mechanical forces in the construction of the terminal, rather than let a contract. H. F. Latimer, Division Passenger Agent for the railroad, was instructed to make a trip through the west to make a careful inspection of the most up-to-date stations and to employ their best features in the plans of Bessemer Station.
The depot was completed in 1916 at the specified cost of $30,000 and the town's most prominent citizens acted as a reception committee at the opening on March 2nd, 1916.
Building Description
The railroad terminal building has changed little since it was completed on March 1st, 1916. The structure, which measures 170 feet in length and 50 feet in width, has exterior walls of pressed, brown brick with metal trimming of rolled copper.
The roof plan is irregular, having two levels of hipped roof and a center section which is gabled. Heavy tile was used to cover all sections of the roof. The upper level of the hipped roof is raised above the primary level to allow the ceilings of the waiting room to rise to a height of 22 feet. Windows line the small portion of wall between the two sections of roof, and give light to the waiting rooms. These sections of the roof have wide overhangs supported by brackets.
The interior design of the building includes two waiting rooms of equal size measuring 25 x 36 feet each. A smaller waiting room and toilet room are located on the north end of the building. This smaller waiting room was furnished with rocking chairs and other pleasant furnishings for the ladies. A separate room on the south end of the building was used for the baggage room department.
The woodwork and trim throughout the building is of hand-finished Circassion walnut. Wainscotting is used to the height of four feet on the walls of the waiting rooms. The material used was pressed stone on concrete, highly polished. The floor is poured concrete laid off in squares.
The building is lighted during the day by large glass windows. Originally, it was lighted at night by indirect lighting fixtures.
This building contained one of the earlier vapor heating systems to be installed in the South. This system was a combination of hot water and steam heating systems. Its principal virtue lies in the economy of operation, a pound of steam being sufficient to heat the building.
