Old L&N Passenger Train Station in Alabama
Louisville and Nashville Railroad Depot, Cullman Alabama
The Louisville and Nashville Railroad played a vital role in the settlement and growth of the city and county of Cullman. Its present depot in Cullman, completed in 1913, is unique in its Spanish Colonial Revival style, which was atypical of the majority of L & N's Alabama stations.
Cullman's founder, Col. John Cullman, was a German political refugee who had fled to Cincinnati in 1865. By the 1870's his immigration and colonization ideas had attracted the attention of former Governor Patton. He arranged a meeting between Cullman and Albert Fink, L & N land agent. The result was an option 349,000 acres of land, 15 miles on either side of L & N's right of way in Northern Alabama. With this land, Cullman was able to begin his colony for German immigrants, and in 1873 he selected what was then known as Milner's Station as the site for his new town.
When Cullman died in 1895, he directed that $15,000 of his estate be given to the city for the purpose of lowering the railroad tracks to eliminate noise and smoke in the town. However, these plans were not implemented until 1911 when L & N began laying double tracks along all of its routes. The new and lower cut moved the tracks one-half mile from the original station necessitating the construction of a new depot as well as viaducts over the right of way.
Built for $22,200 the station was designed by L & N's Office of Chief Engineer and displays a greater degree of creativity when compared to the more standardized structures elsewhere in the state.
Building Description
The Cullman Depot is a one-story stuccoed brick structure with a basement, completed in 1913 for the Louisville and Nashville Railroad company. An unknown company engineer designed the rectangular station in the then-popular Spanish Colonial Revival style. It was an uncommon choice for the L & N and possibly the result of Colonel Cullman's financial assistance. Most of the company's depots built in Alabama at this time followed a simple, standard design.
The detail of the long three-bay facade is confined to the upper portion of the building. The parapet, which is divided into three sections with central stepped arches flanked by brick piers, obscures the flat roof. The taller central piers are accented with recessed panels, horizontal banding, and surmounted with low pyramidal roofs. The corner piers are quite low by contrast and have less brickwork and half-hipped roofs. Additional detail along the parapet includes star and circular accents at the center of the arches. The single interior chimney is located on the north end of the building.
A line of projecting brick molding extends around all sides of the structure becoming more detailed in the central portion as it takes on an arched motif. Directly below this, a single-bay, hipped roof portico supported by heavy columns covers the double doors of the main entrance. Heavy bracketing joins the cornice and columns of the porch.
Each bay has two double-hung sash windows with one-over-one lights and single-light transoms. The north bay has an additional window as well as two doors, one of which is double, serving the baggage area. The south end of the building extends approximately 28 feet to create a porch cover supported by massive brick columns. A door and two windows in a two-one arrangement are located on this elevation which faces southeast.
The rear or west elevation faces the tracks and is quite simple by contrast. One unadorned central arch highlights the stepped parapet. A wooden shed roof covers the concrete platform and is supported by square wooden posts with Y braces.
The interior of the station was originally divided into separate waiting and restrooms for men, women, and Negroes. In addition, there was a ticket office and baggage room. With the demise of passenger traffic on the railroad, the depot was altered for freight, eliminating the separate waiting rooms and restrooms except one for employees. Other interior features such as octagonal tile floors, carved woodwork, and plaster brick walls are still visible.
