Abandoned train station in Ohio
Pennsylvania Depot, Mount Vernon Ohio
The Pennsylvania, Railroad Depot, located on South Main Street in Mount Vernon, Ohio, occupies a most strategic site, not only in view of present and future urban planning, but also with regard to the city and county's historical origins. The Kokosing River, which borders on the property, was the waterway that brought the first settler to the area nine years before the name of Ohio had been given to the territory. Mount Vernon's earliest commercial endeavors were via this river, which was then known as Owl Creek. Fittingly, railroads laid track parallel to the river, and at the turn of the 20th century the Columbus, Akron, & Cleveland, and the Pennsylvania Railroad Companies were operating here in a joint venture. Because of this, it has been impossible to determine in what year this building was erected, but older residents in the area seem to agree that the station house went up in or around 1905. In the building's prime, it served as a center for information, commerce, and military departures. During the height of the whistle-stop campaigning, residents remember Franklin Delano Roosevelt coming through on a twenty-car non-stop journey to Columbus. The local paper records such events as Alf Landon speaking from the platform on October 12, 1936. Three thousand of Mount Vernon's townspeople were witness to that particular event.
Building Description
This building is a rugged masonry structure with an Oriental influence in the roof lines and eave overhang and the heavy red tile roof. There is a rough-cut stone base course entirely surrounding the structure, with a hard-burned, smooth-surfaced gray brick wall above the stone to form the exterior walls.
The exterior and two main interior walls are of masonry construction. The outside face of the exterior walls consists of a rough-cut sandstone base course. The balance of the wall above the stone is a smooth-faced hard brick, warm gray in color. The roof structure is of wood, covered with glazed tile, interlocking and curved in appearance. The original color was red. The window sashes and doors are of wood, with the exception of the two steel roll-up doors on the east end. The interior walls are plastered. The ceilings are plaster on wood lath. The floor slabs are of concrete. There is a basement under the greater part of the building, with access from two outdoor concrete and stone stairways. There are several areaways adjacent to the basement windows.
