Louisville and Nashville Railroad Train Station in GA

Blue Ridge Depot, Blue Ridge Georgia

Date added: February 24, 2024 Categories:

Do you have an update on the current status of this structure? Please tell us about it in the comments below.

Railroad transportation came to this area in the form of the Marietta and North Georgia Railroad when it built a route in 1890 to the small town of Blue Ridge. This was part of the Atlanta to Knoxville, Tennessee route and resulted in an influx of visitors to the mineral springs as well as more county business. This caused the county seat to be moved here in 1895. The population rose from 264 in 1890 to 1,184 in 1900. Much of the new population was employed in the railroad shops until they were moved in 1906. The original, earlier depot burned and this one, built in 1906, continued in the same important role to the community, serving as the town's only depot. Passenger service ended in 1951, as it has almost everywhere else in Georgia. The railroad is currently leased to the Louisville and Nashville Railroad of the Family Lines System and continues freight service to Blue Ridge, although this depot is no longer used.

The depot has been leased to the city of Blue Ridge for use by the Blue Ridge Mountains Art Association, Inc. whose goal is the promotion of mountain crafts.

Building Description

The Blue Ridge Depot is a one-story, wood-frame weatherboarded building built in 1906 to house railroad passengers and freight. It was built in the style of similar railroad buildings of the early 20^th Century with wide, overhanging eaves supported by diagonal brackets. It is adjacent to the railroad tracks and is surrounded on three sides by a parking lot. The depot is centrally located in downtown Blue Ridge.

The exterior of the depot has a central chimney and two small, weatherboarded gables on the roof. It has three different rows of paneling surrounding the entire building. The bottom row is made up of vertical tongue and groove boards; the window or middle row is composed of small horizontal weatherboards broken up by the windows; and the uppermost row contains vertical boards again.

Exterior details include the brackets that support the overhanging roof. Those that join the building at its corners do so at beaded corner boards. The exterior windows throughout the building are hung one over one with large single panes. Each of the exterior doors also has large single-pane transoms overhead, some of which open for ventilation. The depot still supports two signs that give the station's name. There is a loading platform that surrounds the northeast end of the building adjacent to the freight area.

The interior of the depot is divided into a freight area and a passenger/office area. The freight area, in the northeast end, consists of one large room with trusses that support the roof, a timber plank floor raised above the rest of the depot floor, and high wainscoting, The freight area exits consist of four sliding doors. The passenger/office area contains a ticket office with double-beaded tongue and groove horizontal paneling and similar vertical wainscoting. Wall areas are divided by a chair rail. The ceiling is also tongue and groove paneling. This room has been subdivided. Nearby are two waiting rooms finished in the same manner as the office.

The depot is built over a balloon frame. The depot is adjacent to the railroad tracks in the middle of the town of Blue Ridge. The tracks divide the town with commercial buildings on either side and a city park nearby. There is no landscaping on the depot property. The building is surrounded by railroad tracks and a parking lot of asphalt and gravel. There are no outbuildings.

Major changes to the depot have been the subdividing of the office area and the adding therein of modern equipment. Many of the windows have been temporarily boarded over.