Former Central of Georgia Railroad Depot, Leesburg Georgia

With the completion of a rail line between Americus and Albany in 1857, and the establishment of a post office, a settlement called Wooten's Station, so named to reflect the community's first postmaster, Henry P. Wooten, arose. With the relocation of the county courthouse to the growing settlement, the name was changed to Leesburg in 1874. Construction for the Leesburg Depot began c.1895. As was the custom at the time, railroad carpenters likely built the wooden depot. When first constructed, it provided the primary means of communication to the outside world and provided a way of travel to such faraway places as Washington, D.C. or New York City. The depot served as the core of the community for many years, housing the telegraph office, in addition to the passenger and freight rail operations for Leesburg. The depot has served the city for a number of other purposes since 1960 when it was leased from the railroad.

The following description is taken from the "Leesburg Depot" Historic Property Information that was prepared by the Historic Preservation Committee for Leesburg Depot.

Approximately 5,850 square miles of Indian land located in southwest Georgia between the Flint and Chattahoochee rivers was procured from the Creek Indians by treaty in 1825. In 1826, the Georgia legislature passed an act to organize this territory into a county to be called Lee. Lee County originally included the territory that now comprises the entire counties of Lee, Quitman, Randolph, Stewart, Sumter, Terrell, Webster and parts of Schley, Chattahoochee, Macon, Clay and Marion. At the time, Lee County was almost unknown to the white man, had no stagecoach line and no towns or villages.

In 1832, legislation was enacted designating a site one-half mile west of Muckalee Creek as the county seat. This site was to be named Starksville. The county seat was subsequently moved to Webster in 1854 and back to Starkville (note change in spelling) in 1856. In 1872, the legislature appointed commissioners to select a site on the Southwestern Railroad to be the county seat. Wooten's Station (later named Leesburg) was selected for that purpose.

The Southwestern Railroad was chartered in 1845 to build a rail line from Macon through southwest Georgia to the lower Chattahoochee River. Construction began around 1848. By 1852, rails had been laid only from Macon to the Flint River at Oglethorpe. In 1853, the line was extended to Americus. In 1857, the Southwestern purchased a line then under construction between Americus and Albany from the Georgia and Florida Railroad. It pushed the project to completion. It is said that Starkville residents made an unsuccessful effort to have the line come by the county seat, but the railroad chose to follow the high ground between the Kinchafoonee and Muckalee creeks.

In 1869, the Southwestern was leased to the Central of Georgia. By 1954, the Central of Georgia had acquired a majority of Southwestern's stock and made it a part of the Central system. In 1963, the Central of Georgia became a part of the Norfolk Southern Corporation, which in 1974, was merged with Southern Railway. In 1995, Georgia Southwestern Railroad, Inc., acquired trackage rights between Americus and Albany.

Events leading to the construction of the present Leesburg railroad depot began in 1857 when the rail line between Americus and Albany was completed. The rail line went by Sneed's Store, a stopover for stagecoaches to change horses. A depot and post office were built at Sneed's Store, which was near the present location of Leesburg. Henry P. Wooten was named postmaster at Sneed in 1857. Subsequently, the name of the settlement was changed to Wooten's Station. In 1873, the county courthouse was relocated from Starkville to Wooten's Station. The town was renamed Leesburg in 1874.

No information has been found on the original railroad depot that served Wooten's Station. The present depot was built around 1895. It was located near the center of Leesburg between the railroad tracks and what is now U.S. Highway 19. It was presumably constructed by railroad carpenters, as was the custom at that time. The functional building was the style typically built to serve multiple purposes in small towns in the rural South.

The depot was a center of activity for many years. In addition to serving train passengers, it was a freight depot and a telegraph office. Mail came to and from Leesburg by train. A hand drawn cart was used to transport the mail between the depot and the post office. Furlow Adams pulled the cart for many years. Hundreds of Sears Roebuck orders were delivered to Leesburg by train. In addition to the mail, the depot received farm supplies, fertilizer, merchandise for the stores and a variety of miscellaneous items. Numerous farm products were shipped from the Leesburg depot including pulpwood, timber, watermelons, pears, grain, and cotton. During World Wars I and II, the railroad transported large amounts of military equipment and personnel through Leesburg.

Since the backyards of several homes extended to the railroad right-of-way, it was not uncommon for hobos to knock on the back door of these homes asking for food. This was especially true during the Depression of the 1930s. Because of the generosity of the citizens of Leesburg, the hobos were seldom disappointed.

During the 1930s and early 1940s, it was traditional for the graduating class of Leesburg High School to take a senior trip. Miss Mary Dance, the senior class sponsor, chaperoned the class to faraway places such as Washington, D.C. and New York City. The depot opened up the world to Leesburg citizens as the point of departure for these excursions.

In the 1930s, the town received news that a streamline (diesel) train would be coming through Leesburg. Schoolchildren turned out to see this sight. Students were lined up along the tracks to await the arrival of the train, which was said to be traveling 60 miles per hour. So as not to become dizzy and fall as the train passed by at this high rate of speed, students were told to sit down as the train approached and remain seated until it had passed.

A famous all-Pullman passenger train, the Dixie Flyer, made its way through Leesburg twice a week as it traveled between Chicago and Miami. This service began in 1908 and continued until 1954. The busiest time for the Dixie Flyer was during the 1920s when thousands of northerners regularly traveled to Florida to escape the cold winters. Other passenger trains traveling the Chicago to Miami route were the Dixie Limited, Dixie Express, Dixie Flagler and Dixie Mail. As ridership fell, all of these trains were discontinued by the mid-1950s.

Tragedy occurred a few yards from the depot in February 1928. Two promising young men, Paul Forrester and Charles Lee, were returning home on a cold winter night. They stopped at the depot to warm themselves by the potbelly stove and catch up on the latest gossip. Upon leaving the depot they failed to hear or see the Dixie Flyer approaching the crossing and drove out in front of it. They were both killed.

As conditions changed and business declined, one by one, the passenger service, the telegraph office, the mail drop, and the freight service were eliminated. By 1970, railroad functions of the depot had ceased. Since that time, the depot has been used for a number of purposes including a public library, city hall, fire station, print shop and store.

In 1960, the Central of Georgia Railroad sold the depot to the city of Leesburg and leased the land where the building is located to the city. In March of 2007, Leesburg acquired the land on which the depot sits.

Building Description

The Leesburg Depot is located on Walnut Avenue between the railroad tracks on the west and U.S. Highway 19 on the east in downtown Leesburg in Lee County, Georgia. Leesburg is a small community located about halfway between Americus and Albany in southwest Georgia.

The one-story, rectangular, board-and-batten building was constructed c.1895 as a passenger and freight depot and telegraph office. The building has a gable, metal roof and six-over-six wood windows. The building retains its freight and passenger doors. The rail side of the building has a projecting bay where the ticket office was located. The interior of the depot retains its original floor plan with segregated passenger waiting rooms at the south end of the building, an office in the center of the building, and a large freight/baggage room on the north end of the building. The depot also retains its historic interior finishes and materials including the wood floors, interior walls, and ceilings. The city of Leesburg leased the depot in 1960 from the Central of Georgia Railway Company.

The Leesburg Depot is a one-story, rectangular, board-and-batten building sited on Walnut Avenue in downtown Leesburg. Leesburg serves as the county seat for Lee County. The depot sits in the center of town between city hall and the county courthouse, amidst the commercial heart of Leesburg. U. S. Highway 19 and the rail lines run north-south parallel to the depot on either side. State Highway 195 intersects with Highway 19 beside the depot. Both highways experience a high rate of traffic, especially during school hours as all the county schools are located within the city limits. The simple detailing of the depot is highlighted by the board-and-batten siding, which is painted barn red with white trim. Non-historic white shutters frame the window on the main entrance.

The original windows and doors have wide molding with original hardware. Two entrance doors are located at the main (south) entrance into the segregated waiting rooms. This south facade has a non-historic, brick knee wall that reaches across the entire facade to the windowsill. The board-and-batten siding is accented by two, horizontal, wooden strips and central, decorative, applied trusswork, just below the roof peak, which mirrors the internal construction. A small, white sign denoting the city is centrally located on this trusswork.

The east facade, facing the railroad tracks, has two sliding doors into the freight room, a bay window that served as the ticket window, and a single window into the waiting area. A small cross gable, with decorative bracing, protrudes from the roof line over the ticket window. This bay window has four double-hung windows and breaks the plane of the facade, extending out about four feet. The loading platform extends around the outside here and around to the west facade. The original loading platforms were replaced with cypress wood several years ago and have ramps attached at three ends.

The west facade, facing the highway, features three, large, door openings. The two doors into the freight area are sliding, original doors faced with wood siding applied at an angle. The door into the ticket office is metal. An original wood window faces west from the waiting area on this facade. The loading platform extends along the freight/baggage area, culminating in a ramp down to ground level in front of the ticket office.

The north facade has a single, sliding freight door with decorative, applied trusswork in a triangular pattern that is applied over vertical wood siding. The applied decoration above the door mirrors the south facade.

The gable roof is constructed of pine cross beams and rafters supporting an exterior, standing-seam sheet metal roof. On the east and west facades, deep overhanging eaves with rafters provide shelter from the weather. The foundation consists of three-foot, wooden cross beams mounted on brick pillars with wide pine flooring.

The interior of the depot retains its original floor plan with segregated passenger waiting rooms at the south end of the building, an office in the center of the building, and a large freight/baggage room on the north end of the building. The depot also retains its historic interior finishes and materials including the wood floors, interior walls, and ceilings. The waiting rooms currently have acoustical tile or paneling applied on top of the original tongue-and-groove pine ceilings and walls. The floors of the waiting area are wide, plank floors, covered with particleboard in the 1970s. Two walls and a bathroom were added to this area at the same time.

The ticket office retains its original tongue-and-groove pine ceilings and wide, plank walls. Wood wainscoting, cap and floor molding exist on both sides of the ticket office. The floor is concrete. Three wood steps lead through an original, paneled, wood door to the freight/baggage area of the depot. A wood stove served the ticket office as the original heating source. Historically, wood stoves and lanterns were used for heat and lighting. As progress was made, gaslights and then electricity were added to the depot. Window air-conditioners and gas heaters were used when the depot housed City Hall and the library. Non-historic light fixtures currently exist in the interior and on the exterior. The wood stove, air-conditioners and gas heaters have been removed.

The freight area consists of pine ceiling beams, braces and rafters, which are totally exposed; unfinished, exterior wood walls; and wide, plank wood floors. There are wooden, sliding, double doors with original pulley hardware that open onto the platform for loading and unloading.

Landscaping includes grass planted along the west, north and south ends of the building. Evergreen shrubs are planted along the perimeter of the platforms. Crepe myrtles and seasonal flowers border the parking area. A picket fence, edged with perennials and shrubs, extends from the parking area to the corner of the adjacent highway intersection. Parking and a paved area exist in front of the main entrance.