Jacksonville, Pensacola and Mobile Railroad Company Freight Depot, Tallahassee Florida

Built in 1858, and added to in 1880, the Jacksonville, Pensacola and Mobile Railroad Company Freight Depot is one of the oldest, and is the largest of the early railroad related buildings in Florida, and the oldest one still in use as a passenger rail station. It was constructed at a time when Tallahassee was the state's largest center for cotton and agriculture production and its size reflected this activity.

The beginning of railroads in the Tallahassee area can be traced to the Tallahassee Railroad Company. Originally chartered in 1831 as the Leon Railway Company, it was re-chartered in 1832 and for a third and final time as the Tallahassee Railroad Company in 1834, just 9 years after the City was incorporated. The first rail line was built by John and William Gray of Columbia, South Carolina. They advertised for laborers ($20 to $25 a month) and carpenters ($35 to $50 a month). They promised that the proposed line would only pass through dry, healthy country and that there was no danger of fever, a definite distortion of the truth. When completed in 1837, the track ran 21 miles south from Tallahassee to Saint Marks near the Gulf Coast. It consisted of two wood rails topped by thin metal straps without cross-ties and an experimental steam engine which exploded immediately upon its first use. A second steam engine was tried, but because it ran away and derailed, mules were used to pull the cars. The passenger cars were box-like and had two benches that held eight persons and the freight cars were open boxes. Passenger service was $1.50 to St. Marks for adults, $.75 for children or a bale of hay. The train was infamous for being extremely slow, taking five to seven hours to travel from Tallahassee to St. Marks. One of the first passengers, Count Castelnau, a French visitor to Florida in the 1830s, noted that the railroad was "Certainly the very worst that has been built in the entire world."

Tallahassee was the shipping hub for the cotton plantations throughout the region, and the rail carried both passengers and crops between the Capital City and the port for access to the sea routes. The line was extended two and one-half miles past St. Marks to the new town of Port Leon, which had been created by owners of the railroad to develop a port with deeper water than St. Marks'. Deep water ships loaded and unloaded at Port Leon until 1843, when a hurricane destroyed not only the town but also the railway, including the line's only suspension bridge.

The Civil War put an end to cotton as a major money crop as agriculture in the South focused on staples to supply the Confederate forces. When the war ended in 1865, the landowners had to adjust to a free labor force and responded by developing a system of sharecropping that again focused on cotton, which was in high demand. Unfortunately, under this system, the cost of cotton decreased while the inventory increased and the soil was depleted due to a lack of scientific land management. After the Civil War, attempts at agricultural diversification were made, and by the turn of the century, success had been achieved in the dairy, timber, and turpentine industries. During this period many of the old plantations were purchased by affluent northern sportsmen as hunting plantations, primarily for quail. This took a large part of the county out of row crops, reducing the need for rail transit of crops.

While agriculture played a smaller overall role in the economy of the area, the presence of the state capital, the Tallahassee Normal College for Colored Students (later renamed FAMU) and the Florida State College (later renamed FSU) continued to play a more important role in the economy. The railroad was still the most reliable means of reaching the city. Although the north-south connections were difficult to arrange, east-west travel, which linked the major population centers in east and west Florida, was well established.

While Tallahassee and Leon County continued to prosper, the transportation system was rocked by two new inventions. Although the train remained the transportation method of choice by many, the automobile was seen by many as the future of transit. As the auto became more popular the need for improved roads both within and between cities became obvious. By 1920 there were 80,163 cars registered in Florida. The second invention that would change transportation to and from Tallahassee was the airplane. Eastern Airlines began regularly scheduled passenger service at Tallahassee's Dale Mabry Field on October 10^th, 1938.

Depot History

Middle Florida, the central section of North Florida between the Apalachicola and Suwannee Rivers, with its rich agricultural lands grew rapidly in the 19^th century. By 1860 Florida had a population of 140,424 and Leon County, with a population of 12,343 was by far the most populated. The county was the largest in the state in the production of livestock, sweet potatoes, corn, and the major money crop of the South, cotton. Cotton was in great demand and Tallahassee acted as a commercial hub for the region, shipping 16,686 bales of ginned cotton in 1860. The cotton from local plantations was brought in by wagon, processed, and then shipped by rail to the coast for transport by ship. The development of track between Pensacola and Jacksonville gave access to those ports and allowed for improved interstate and intrastate transportation of both freight and passengers.

In 1855, the Pensacola and Georgia Railroad Company bought all holdings of the Tallahassee Railroad Company and upgraded the line, replacing the wood rails with iron, adding cross-ties, extending the gauge to the five-foot standard, and running two 16 ton Baldwin manufactured steam locomotives, the H.L. Rutgers, No. 24 and the General Bailey, No. 25. With these changes the trip that used to take five to seven hours could be accomplished in an hour and one half. In 1856 the company started the installation of a new track from Pensacola to Alligator (now Lake City) and planned to connect to the Florida Atlantic and Gulf Central (out of Jacksonville) there. In 1858, the line had been extended 25 miles east past Tallahassee and the one-story Tallahassee freight depot was built to service the line. Apparently the track was not properly maintained during the Civil War period, for it was then described as "two streaks of rust running through the wilderness." The Pensacola and Georgia Railroad Company completed the track to Lake City in 1861, and began regular rail service from Tallahassee to Jacksonville via Lake City, but the company failed in 1869, and the holdings were purchased by the Jacksonville, Pensacola and Mobile Railroad Company who continued construction along the Pensacola to Jacksonville line. The two-story addition onto the freight depot was made in 1880. The depot's current configuration and appearance was established with this addition made by the Jacksonville, Pensacola and Mobile Railroad Company. In 1882, ownership again changed when the company was sold to the Florida Central and Western Railroad. Under the management of this company 234 miles of track were improved. In 1884, the holdings of Florida Central and Western were consolidated with a number of other rail companies by an Englishman, Sir Edward Reed. The new company was named the Florida Railway and Navigation Company and all tracks were downsized to four feet, nine inches to conform with other state rail lines.

Ownership of the company changed several times over the next decade: in 1888, it was purchased by the Florida Central and Peninsular Railway; in 1893, by the Florida Central and Peninsular Railroad; and in 1900, by the Seaboard Air Line Railway. Under this ownership in 1903, a new rail connection to Bainbridge finally gave access to Georgia and the North, and increased the importance of rail transportation. Under this company, a new passenger depot was built to the east of Railroad Avenue in 1905. During World War II, Tallahassee was a major military transportation hub for hundreds of thousands of troops who were trained at Camp Gordon Johnston in Franklin County, and were stationed at the expanded Dale Mabry Air Field in Tallahassee. In 1967 Seaboard merged with Atlantic Coast Line and Seaboard Coast Line. The common name for the freight depot is currently the Old Seaboard Coast Line Railroad.

The depot and the passenger station continued to be used until 1971 when, for the first time in approximately 113 years, passenger service ended. Freight service continued, and in 1980 the company was bought by Chessie System Express (CSX). For the next 12 years Tallahassee was only a freight stop, until 1992 when the Amtrak Company began passenger services again, using part of the old freight depot as the passenger station.

Building and Site Description

The Jacksonville, Pensacola and Mobile Rail Company Freight Station is located at 918 Railroad Avenue, Tallahassee, Leon County, Florida, and is adjacent to, and runs parallel to the railroad tracks. This brick vernacular building has Classical decorative elements. The 1858 building with 1880 two-story western addition, has a rectangular footprint, and it rests on a continuous brick foundation. The structural system of the building is masonry and the exterior fabric is both exposed (although painted) brick, and stucco. The earlier, one-story portion has a standing-seam tin roof while the two-story addition has a hip roof with asphalt shingles. The 1880 addition repeated Classical elements present on the 1858 warehouse. A non-historic passenger platform has a awning structure with a gable roof parallels the entire south elevation of the station. A brick warehouse (1885-1915) is located north of the station. A concrete block building is also located to the north of the station.

The station is in its original location, due north of the active rail tracks. Directly to the south of the station is an industrial park with a east/west stream bordering it on the south. Within a block to the south is the Florida A&M University campus. Directly to the east is the commercially used north/south Railroad Avenue. Directly opposite the avenue, to the east, is a 1905 railroad passenger depot. To the east/northeast is the historic All Saints neighborhood containing the 1862 Williams House. One block north of the site is a mixture of commercial and industrial uses along Gaines Street, a major east-west thoroughfare. To the northeast of the Gaines Street/Railroad Avenue intersection is the Tallahassee/Leon County Civic Center. North/northwest of the site, five blocks away is the campus of Florida State University. The site is flat east and west, but the terrain slopes upward to the north and south of the site.

The main (east) facade of the station displays the two-story, 1880 addition with hip roof, pierced by two corbeled brick chimneys. Centrally located in the first story is the main door with transom and side lights, sheltered by a portico supported by two squared posts set on a brick railing. A wooden disability ramp accesses the porch from the north. From the foundation to the bottoms of windows, the brick courses are stepped forward several inches. Evenly spaced on either side of the door are two rectangular windows with wooden 6/6, single-hung sashes. A one-story, shed-roofed addition, flush with the main facade, contains one window, and is at the southeast corner. A molded sheet-metal, belt course cornice divides the first and second stories. The second story has five equally spaced windows, the central of which has a center mullion dividing two narrow 8/8 double-hung sashes, providing design emphasis. The rectangular windows have segmental arch wooden framing. Drip molds above the windows repeat the segmental arch. The pilasters with corbeled capitals are centered between the windows and on the corners. Corbeled brick courses, mimicking lintels, top the pilaster capitals. The flat wall rises above these courses until an entablature terminates in extended eaves. The square hip roof is covered with asphalt shingles, and pierced by two chimneys on the north and south slopes. The bricks on the first story of the 1880 addition are painted, and the second story has been stuccoed.

The south elevation fronts on the railroad tracks. The two-story 1880 addition occupies the eastern end, and the 1858 one-story freight depot extends toward the west. The first story of the addition has the shed-roofed addition with two windows in its south elevation, a door with a transom and a window to the west. The second story has four windows. The freight area has the original wooden loading dock with a corrugated metal shed roof supported by square wooden posts and diagonal braces. This elevation originally had five large wooden freight doors. Three are in their original configuration. One has been converted to a non-historic, fixed picture window at the eastern end of the elevation. The door on the western end remains, slid on its track to the inside, but the opening has been infilled by double French doors. Between each freight door are three pilasters with capitals identical to the main facade. Above each freight door is a decorative, rectangular recess. Above each pilaster is a recessed, decorative, Gothic-style quatrefoil. The broad side of the hip roof with a raised ridge metal surface is visible. A non-historic passenger waiting platform with gable roof parallels the building.

The west elevation contains four pilasters, and central, segmental-arched window with contemporary lights, and a wooden ramp access to the train-passenger office occupying the west end of the building.

The north elevation of the two-story addition has four windows on the first and second stories. The freight area elevation has five large freight doors that originally opened on the north elevation. Three doors onto an original wooden loading dock are in their original form. One door on the west end serves as an entrance to the passenger office, has been modified with double French doors with the original door slid inside as on the south elevation, and is accessed off of an elevated porch with steps on the west side. One door to the east has been converted to a non-historic, fixed picture window like the corresponding window on the south elevation. Between this large window and the loading dock is a window covered by a wooden shutter. Between the large window and the two-story addition is a 6/6, wooden sash window, and a door.

The interior of the one-story section is divided into three areas; the passenger station at the west end; a large open area used for storage; and meeting rooms primarily accessible from the two-story section.

The two-story addition contains offices and a stairway with landing that accesses the second floor.

The passenger station, waiting/ticket area, takes up the western fifth of the freight area, and remains an open space with exposed rafters. The hardware and the large sliding doors to the freight entrances have been left in place. The north, south, and west interior walls are exposed brick with a light stucco/paint surface. The east wall of the public area contains a ticket counter, a short hallway to the public restrooms (north side), and an entrance door to the counter/storage area (south side). The ticket counter is sheet rock with a glass window. External access to a small storeroom is through one of the bays on the south side of the building. This storeroom has a dropped ceiling and commercial grade vinyl tile covers the floor.

The east end of the freight area contains two meeting rooms, three bathrooms, and a kitchen, currently used by the occupants of the two-story section. The interior spaces and surfaces are all contemporary. The walls within this area are sheet rock, and the ceilings are acoustic drop ceiling with florescent lighting. The meeting rooms each have a converted three-pane fixed window, and carpeted floor. The kitchen has tile flooring, and the bathrooms have vinyl flooring. Above the ceiling of these rooms, within the open rafter space, the heating and air-conditioning units have been placed. A brick chimney, no longer extending through the roof, still remains from an earlier furnace or stove. The exterior door on the north elevation opens onto an interior wooden stairs that serves as a rear exit from the second floor of the 1880 addition. Brick-infilled windows in the east wall by the air conditioning reveal the locations of windows in the original 1858 freight depot, prior to the 1880 addition. The location of the chimney and infilled windows suggests this area was originally used for office space.

The remaining part of the open storage section is largely unimproved. The original wooden flooring has concrete laid over it in portions. The brick walls reveal their double thickness where damaged. The roof system has ten exposed trusses with king posts. Three original freight doors and their hardware are present. Both the east and west walls are of unfinished sheet rock, and stairs go to an open, plywood, second level above the meeting rooms, where heating and air conditioning units are located.

The two-story 1880 addition has a reception area, four offices and a central hallway and stairs. The interior of the two-story section has a beaded pine wainscot in the entrance room only. Two fireplaces have been closed in.

The small addition onto the south corner of the first floor extends one office. Upstairs there are four offices, a bathroom, and a central hallway. The two fireplaces have also been closed in. This area has two non-historic inner walls, but it retains the original windows, much of the original molding around the windows and doors, and chair railings. In this section the floors are carpeted. Most of this section utilizes dropped ceiling and several inner walls are of sheet rock. The original walls in this section are plaster.

The 1858 freight depot was built of porous brick and exterior paint was probably applied soon afterwards to repel moisture. The 1880 addition onto the east end of the depot enclosed windows located in the original west wall. A rear stairway from the second floor was extended through the north wall of the freight depot. The second floor of the addition was stuccoed at an unknown time.

The one room addition on the addition's southeast corner is non-historic. The portico and main door in the 1990s replaced a shed hood. Two interior walls were added on the addition's second floor, and fireplaces were enclosed in the 1990s. The contemporary treatments for meeting rooms, kitchen and bathroom in the east end of the freight depot were made in the 1990s. In 1992, the interior west end of the freight depot was modified to include a ticket window and waiting room. The exterior of the west end portion was stuccoed at the same time. The concrete passenger waiting platform with gable roof were added just south of the freight station in 1992.

The rectangular brick warehouse directly north of the freight depot has a broad hip roof covered with asphalt shingles. The north and south elevations contain three freight doors each. The building was constructed between 1885 and 1915, and was used for freight storage. The Red Cross has been using it for storage.

In 1992, the passenger shelter was built along the railway platform. Single circular wooden posts support a small seamed metal, gable roof. A concrete block commercial building with flat roof is located directly north of the depot, and fronts onto Railroad Avenue.