Gainesville-Midland Railroad Depot, Hoschton Georgia

Date added: June 09, 2025

Categories:
Georgia
Railroad Facility
Passenger Station
Gainesville, Jefferson and Southern Railroad

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

The Hoschton Depot is typical of the depots constructed along the Gainesville Midland Railroad line and throughout Georgia during the 19^th century. The design of the depot is typical for depots built in small towns in Georgia and it is very similar to other depots on the Gainesville, Jefferson and Southern Railroad line, including those in Talmo and Jefferson. The Talmo Depot is roughly the same size as the Hoschton Depot and includes the broad, hip roof, freight entrances, and a three-part division of interior space: freight room, passenger waiting rooms, ticket office. The only difference is a small bay window that projects on the track side of the Talmo Depot. The Jefferson Depot maintains the same basic form, materials, and plan as the depot in Hoschton except that it is larger. It includes two freight doors along both street and track side facades and the overhanging hip roof is supported by brackets. The rectangular shape, hip-roof, and basic three-room plan are common throughout Georgia and can be found in depots as distant as Folkson in the southeast corner of the state.

Railroads were instrumental in the development of Georgia and brought the rise of small towns, such as Hoschton, from the middle of the 19^th century to World War II. Although Hoschton had been founded before the arrival of the railroad, it experienced significant growth only after the rail line was established through town. Like towns throughout Georgia in the late 19^th and early 20^th centuries, the railroad in Hoschton led to a small boom economy in which the town's population quickly swelled to 250 residents. Hoschton remained an agricultural-based community but the railroad offered a means to transport agricultural products, principally cotton and lumber, to distant mills and manufacturing plants. The Hoschton Depot is the only surviving rail-related resource in Hoschton and represents the phenomenal growth brought by the railroads in Hoschton and throughout Georgia.

The Gainesville, Jefferson and Southern Railroad was chartered on August 23^rd, 1872 with the goal of creating a 44-mile line from Gainesville in Hall County south to Monroe in Walton County. A 13-mile branch was planned from Florence to Jefferson. By June 1^st, 1883, the line completed 18 miles from Gainesville south to Hoschton. On August 1^st, 1904, the Gainesville-Midland Railway acquired the Gainesville, Jefferson and Southern Railroad, which comprised 22 miles of line from Gainesville to Jefferson and a 32 mile branch line from Belmont to Monroe. By the end of the 19^th century, the line extended as far south as Social Circle (on the Georgia Railroad) and, in 1906, a line was extended to Fowler Junction, near Athens. Eventually, the Gainesville to Athens line became the most profitable. In 1948, the entire line from Belmont to Monroe, including Hoschton, was abandoned.

Hoschton was first known as Hoschton's Store because the Hosch brothers, R. A. and J. R. Hosch, built a store in the area in 1865. The town was founded in 1881 by the Hosch brothers and platted in 1881. The Hosches set aside lots for a community church, school, Masonic lodge, cemetery, and public square. On December 21^st, 1881, the brothers sold lots at public auction. The plat features a grid-iron plan of streets and blocks organized around the railroad, which had not yet been established in Hoschton.

Recognizing the potential boost a rail line would bring their town, the residents of Hoschton employed former governor A. D. Candler to lobby for the line and citizens solicited subscriptions and sold stock for the Belmont to Monroe extension. The line was opened through Hoschton in 1883 and the depot was built that same year. The town experienced significant growth after the Gainesville, Jefferson and Southern Railroad established a line through town. By 1887, Hoschton, had 250 residents. The town was incorporated in 1891. A school was built in 1894 and then a larger, more modern school was built in 1918. Hoschton had Methodist, Presbyterian, and Baptist churches, a variety of commercial and industrial enterprises, and a weekly newspaper.

The depot served as a railroad depot until 1948, when passenger service was suspended. After 1948, the depot served as a corn mill, storage building, fire station, city hall, civic club meeting hall, barbershop, athletic gymnasium, pottery shop, and animal hospital. Between 1948 and 1950, the rails were removed and a recreation park was established adjacent to the depot. The city of Hoschton rehabilitated the depot to serve as a community center and museum.

Building Description

The Hoschton Depot is a small, frame, rectangular-shaped railroad depot, which is located alongside State Route 53 in the center of the small town of Hoschton, Jackson County, Georgia. Built in 1883, the depot is set on brick piers and clad in weatherboard. The hip roof features broad overhanging eaves and is covered with V-crimp sheet metal. The main (SR 53) facade features single and paired 6-over-6-light sashes with molded caps. The freight entrance facing SR 53, which was filled in 1968 with two windows and a single door, is easily identified by its intact surround and poured-concrete ramp. The rear (track side) includes two windows, a pedestrian entrance, and an intact sliding freight door.

The interior is divided into three principal spaces: the freight room, the passenger waiting room, and the ticket office. The large, open freight room occupies the entire south half of the building. Most of the interior wall surfaces and some of the flooring have been removed as a result of previous rehabilitations and deterioration over time. The passenger waiting room is an L-shaped space that includes the mid-section of the building and the northwest corner. The wood floors have been replaced but the beaded, tongue-in-groove paneling in the waiting room survives intact. A stove to heat the waiting room and ticket office has been removed but the flue pipe remains. A ticket window with a metal grille communicates between the waiting room and the ticket office, which is located in the northeast corner of the building. The walls of the ticket office, like the waiting room, are covered with beaded, tongue-in-groove paneling.