Georgia Railroad Company Passenger Train Station

Crawford Railroad Depot, Crawford Georgia

Date added: February 01, 2024 Categories:

Standing where tracks cross U.S. 78, looking toward southwest corner of building (1975)

The Upper Piedmont region of Georgia developed in the 1800s very much along with the coming of the railroads. Towns were founded, grew and often decayed with the railroad. Rails were the town's chief link to the markets in Augusta and Savannah. It was the major commercial communication and transportation link to the larger cities of the region.

The town of Crawford grew up with the Athens branch of the Georgia Railroad. This segment, consisting of stations in Union Point, Woodville, Maxeys, Crawford, Arnoldsville, Dunlop, and Athens, was started in 1841. The first method of locomotion was by horse-drawn cars on wheels. This continued until 1847 when the switchover to steam engines was completed. This change necessitated the replacement of the rails to accommodate the wider wheel widths.

The first depot in Crawford was a wooden structure. It was replaced by the present structure of Lithonia, Georgia, granite. According to local tradition, the stone used for the depot was the original cross ties used by the railroad. This would place the date of construction in 1848, the date confirmed by several other knowledgeable sources.

The depot was used during the Civil War as a major storage and shipping center for supplies to the Confederate Army. It is the last remaining stone depot built by the Georgia Railroad Company. These structures were so well built that only demolition by man could raze the walls; natural elements could not defeat these depots.

The Oglethorpe County Chamber of Commerce has sub-let the Depot from the Georgia Railroad Company for ten years with the option to renew for another ten years. The Chamber of Commerce plans to restore the Depot to its original condition as much as possible along the lines of their plans. The Depot will be converted into a community center. The planned uses are to convert the eastern waiting room into restrooms. The other waiting room will be restored for use as a Chamber of Commerce office and meeting room. The ticket office will have kitchen facilities installed for general use by the community. The large baggage room will be used as a multi-purpose room. (1976)

Building Description

The Crawford Depot, a one-story, granite building, was constructed by the Georgia Railroad Company circa 1848.

The depot is a rectangular building 41 feet wide and 91 feet long, the long side being parallel to the railroad tracks. The stone walls are two feet thick. The frame trussed slightly curved roof has projecting eaves and is covered with shingles. The structure is divided into four rooms: two waiting rooms, a ticket office, and the baggage/freight room. The two waiting rooms are identical, with the door being to the outside corner in each room. Interior dimensions are 18 feet by 16 feet. The ceilings, approximately twenty feet high, are trimmed with a simple cornice. The only light fixture is a hanging light bulb in the center of the room. Presently there are no: floor boards; they have been removed for eventual replacement. The windows are recessed deep into the wall, flush with the exterior surface. This creates a ledge and indentation of 24 inches. Simple windows are arranged in six-by-four panes, having been recently installed. The older windows in the ticket office are of the same six-by-four arrangement, so it is assumed that the replacements in the waiting rooms are authentic. There are two windows in each waiting room, one centered on each exterior wall. There is a 36-inch tall wainscot around the room of tongue and groove boards four inches wide. The wainscot projects nine inches from the wall and is topped by a chair rail that runs all around the room except at the door and mantel. The chair rail is at the same height as the bottom of the window niche so the chair rail also incorporated the 24-inch ledge at the windows. The mantel is wooden of simple design. Its chief features are twin, slender, engaged Tuscan columns on each side of the opening. In the wall on the interior side of the chimney in each of the two waiting rooms is a window into the ticket office. A grill covers the opening. There is no door between the two waiting rooms. The walls are sheet-rocked and are currently unpainted.

Behind the two waiting rooms and in the central part of the building is what was the ticket office. It is 12 feet wide and runs the entire width of the building, 37 feet between interior walls. A door and a six-by-four pane window are at each end. The doors, as are the doors in the - waiting room, are placed flush with the interior wall, creating a small niche outside. Into this room come the ticket windows from the waiting rooms. There is a pot-bellied stove in the middle of the room. The same protruding wainscot and chair rail are on the common wall with the waiting. rooms. At the eastern end of the room is a door and five steps leading to the Baggage Room.

The Baggage Room is a large room, 37 feet wide and 57 feet long. It constitutes the major portion of the building. The trussed ceiling is exposed, showing the two circular window vents on the northern wall. The space above the waiting rooms and ticket office ceiling is open, allowing light and cross-ventilation from the two similar circular lights on that end. The walls are bare rock; the floor is of 12-inch wide planks running the length of the room.

At the southern end of each side wall is a heavy 10-foot wide, 12-foot tall sliding door leading onto the loading platforms. The platforms are four feet off the ground and reached by a 12-foot ramp. The western platform, the one immediately adjacent to the railroad tracks, is five feet wide and 60 feet long, running to the northern end of the building. The eastern platform is nine feet wide and 19 feet long.

The depot site is bounded on the south by U.S. 78, on the east by Elm Street, on the north by First Street, and the west by Woodlawn Drive. The depot is the only structure on the block, the remainder is covered with grass. The entire block has been sublet to the Oglethorpe County Chamber of Commerce.