Former Small Town Rock Island Train Station in AR

Chicago, Rock Island, and Pacific Railroad Depot, Blue Mountain Arkansas

Date added: September 27, 2024

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The Rock Island Depot at Blue Mountain was built at the end of the 19^th century. When the railroad was built through west Arkansas, it played a big role in the development of Blue Mountain as well as other small communities.

Blue Mountain originally had four passenger trains each day, along with freight and Express service and Western Union service. From the time of its construction until the 1930s, the Blue Mountain Depot was used as a collection point for shipping and receiving produce for the community and surrounding area. Poultry, eggs, cream, strawberries, peaches, apples, and livestock were handled, as well as some cotton and lumber. Many carloads of flour, feed, and other necessities were brought in by train for local businesses to sell.

The Hotel on nearby Mt. Magazine was served by Western Union, which was housed in the depot.

As times changed, passenger service finally ended. When freight shipments declined as well, the Blue Mountain Extension Homemaker's Club bought the depot and moved it to its present site.

Since 1939 the Blue Mountain Depot has been used as a Community Center and for meetings of the Extension Homemaker's Club. When the Federal government operated a "Mattress and Comfort" program to use surplus cotton, this building was a center for this program. In the depot, Extension Homemaker's Club members folded bandages for Red Cross once a week during World War II. The town council meetings and all elections were held in the depot until the City Hall was built. Church services have also been held in the depot at various times.

The Blue Mountain Depot is one of a very few old depots left in sight of the Rock Island Lines in west Arkansas. As the oldest public-use structure in Blue Mountain, the depot has been an important local landmark throughout the twentieth century. The rectangular hip-roof structure has ship-lap siding above an interesting band of vertical and diagonal siding. Double-hung windows, wide three-sided brackets, and a bay on the north add interest to the otherwise simple structure.

Building Description

The Blue Mountain Depot was bought by the Blue Mountain Extension Homemaker's Club on March 29^th, 1939 from the Rock Island Lines. That same year the depot was moved nearby to four adjoining lots purchased by the Extension Homemaker's Club in 1936. The depot was turned to face north instead of south as originally situated.

The Blue Mountain Depot is a one-story frame building, bungalow style, with a green composition roof and white ship-lap siding. It is 40 feet, 6 inches long, eighteen feet, 6 inches wide. Inside is a freight and express room, measuring 17 feet, 4 inches x 11 feet, 2 inches; a black waiting room, 8 feet x 9 feet - 6 inches; a white waiting room, 17 feet, 6 inches x 10 feet, 10 inches; and an office, 9 feet x 20 feet, 10 inches. The ceiling height throughout is 12 feet.

Surrounding the lower portion of the building is a narrow band of alternating vertical and diagonal panels. Other interesting features of this small frame structure include a bay window on the north elevation, transoms over each entry and triangular open brackets beneath the wide eaves of the hip roof.

The depot has many large windows and two entries. The large double doors on the west elevation were replaced with windows, leaving the other double doors in the old freight room. All partitions dividing the freight and express rooms, black waiting room and office were removed, leaving one large area for a meeting room. The white waiting room partition was left intact for a kitchen area. Other alterations included putting in cabinets, concrete steps at the north entry, interior wallpaper, new curtains, and adding brick-patterned paper around the foundation. An oil stove, tables, chairs, and other articles were donated for use.

No records are available as to the architect, but the Blue Mountain Depot is typical of Rock Island depots built in the latter part of the nineteenth century.