Former Louisville and Nashville Railroad Station in KY, now gone

Tweet

The first depot on this site was a frame structure constructed before 1908, and built by the Lexington and Eastern Railroad. By 1914, the complex included passenger, freight, and express offices. After the Lexington and Eastern line was conveyed to the L & N in 1915, the present brick building was built containing a passenger depot, office, baggage room, and viaduct over the railroad. Other buildings now removed include a frame one-story freight building which was attached to the east facade of the building. A sketch from the 1920 Sanborn Map illustrates the relationship of these buildings on the site.

Lexington & Eastern Railroad History

The Kentucky Union Railroad was chartered in 1854. The actual construction of the 95-mile line from Lexington to Jackson was started in 1886 and finished by 1891. Shortly thereafter, the Kentucky Union Railroad went into receivership. In 1894, the railroad reopened as the Lexington and Eastern. The line from Lexington to Jackson covered rugged terrain and contained six tunnels and twenty bridges. The upkeep of these facilities and lack of capital prohibited the company from extending the railroad line beyond Jackson.

By 1903, the Louisville and Nashville Railroad was interested in the coal potential of Letcher and Perry Counties. An extension of the Lexington and Eastern into the Kentucky River North Fork headwaters would give access to coal low in sulphur and phosphorus. Such a grade of coal was good for making coke for the industrial blast furnaces of the east coast.

The L & N Railroad began purchasing the Lexington and Eastern Railroad and extending its track through Breathitt County to Letcher and Perry Counties. By 1912, the line connected Jackson to McRoberts and Hazard. In the meantime, sections of the track between Lexington and Jackson were improved to handle the higher tonnages. After the L & N took full possession of the railroad line in 1915, a brick passenger station was built near the site of the earlier frame building of the Lexington and Eastern.

The building is a one story, brick train depot; seven bays wide in the passenger terminal. Stone was used as an accent, with a stepped and rounded parapet. The style of the building is Dutch influenced. The windows were originally 4/1 sash. The entrance is in the center with a variation of palladian window above the door. The three part window features stone detail. Inside, the building is one room deep with original woodwork. The stairs the left side of the building lead to viaduct over railroad to the neighborhood on the other side.

The building was demolished in about 1989.

(1985)

(1985)

(1985)

(1985)

(1985)

(1985)