Missouri-Pacific Depot, Ozark Arkansas
Due solely to the division of the county by the Arkansas River and the difficulty of crossing it during rainy spells, Ozark has been one of two county seats in Franklin County since 1838 (the other being Charleston, located eighteen miles to the southwest). Ozark operated primarily as a principal river port for a region the major export of which was coal up until the arrival of the Little Rock and Fort Smith Railroad in 1879. This line later became part of the St. Louis, Iron Mountain and Southern Railroad, and was absorbed into the Missouri-Pacific Railroad system by 1910, when this depot was constructed.
The Missouri-Pacific Depot in Ozark is a single-story stone masonry passenger and freight depot constructed in 1910. This irregular plan depot is covered by a composition-shingled hipped roof with Craftsman exposed rafters and large brackets underneath the projecting eaves. A single cut-stone chimney rises through the northern slope of the hipped roof. The ashlar-finished stone walls rest upon a continuous stone foundation and are fenestrated by one-over-one double-hung windows.
The continuous northern elevation is accessed via a total of two single-leaf entrances and two double-leaf entrances, with a total of eleven one-over-one wood sash windows interspersed between them. The southern elevation opposite is broken into three principal wall sections, formed by a projecting telegrapher's bay, placed near the center of the elevation, that is attached to a slightly longer wall bay that also projects from the main body of the structure. The walls to either side of the larger projecting section are lighted with four windows to the west and a single window to the east. The walls of the larger bay that flank the telegrapher's bay are each accessed by a central, single-leaf door that is flanked by a single window on each side. The front of the telegrapher's bay is lighted by two symmetrically placed windows, and its eastern side is accessed via a single-leaf door, while its western side is lighted by another one-over-one wood sash window.
The western elevation is accessed via a single, large loading door placed slightly off-center to the north; it is lighted by a single window opening placed to the south (now boarded-over). The eastern elevation is lighted by two symmetrically placed windows.
Noteworthy exterior details are limited to the Craftsman-style knee braces that ornament the broad, spreading cornice that surrounds the building, achieving especially good effect at the corners, where they seem to soar out to the roof edge. Exposed rafters lend rhythm to the cornice line also.
The depot is currently owned by the City of Ozark.
View from southwest (1989)
