Tallahassee (Amtrak station)

Tallahassee
Southeast view of Jacksonville, Pensacola and Mobile Railroad Company Freight Depot (Tallahassee Amtrak station)
Station statistics
Address	9181⁄2 Railroad Avenue Tallahassee, FL 32310
Coordinates	30.4337°N 84.2903°W / 30.4337; -84.2903
Lines	Sunset Limited
Parking	Yes
Other information
Opened	1858
Closed	2005 (service suspended)
Rebuilt	1885, 1993
Code	TLH
Services
Preceding station   Amtrak   Following station Chipley toward Los Angeles Sunset Limited service suspended Madison toward Orlando
Jacksonville, Pensacola and Mobile Railroad Company Freight Depot U.S. National Register of Historic Places Location: Tallahassee, Florida, USA Coordinates: 30.4337°N 84.2903°W / 30.4337; -84.2903 Built: 1858 NRHP Reference#: 97001589 Added to NRHP: December 30, 1997

The Tallahassee Amtrak station (also known as the Jacksonville, Pensacola and Mobile Railroad Company Freight Depot) is a historic Seaboard Air Line Railroad depot in Tallahassee, Florida. It is located at 918 Railroad Avenue (918¹⁄₂ according to Amtrak), and was served by Amtrak's Sunset Limited until 2005.

History

The station is one of the oldest railroad buildings in Florida. It was originally built in 1858 by the Pensacola and Georgia Railroad, which provided freight and passenger service east to Lake City (where there was connecting service to Jacksonville via the Florida, Atlantic and Gulf Central Railroad), west to Quincy, and north to Georgia via the railroad's Live Oak branch. In 1869, during Reconstruction, the newly formed Jacksonville, Pensacola and Mobile Railroad (JP&M) took over freight and passenger service to the depot and extended service further west to Chattahoochee, where the Louisville and Nashville Railroad eventually provided connecting service to Pensacola.

In 1882, Sir Edward Reed purchased the JP&M as well as the Lake City to Jacksonville Florida Central Railroad, both of which he combined into the Florida Central and Western Railroad. Two years later, Reed merged the Florida Central and Western into the Florida Railway and Navigation Company, which added a second story to the depot in 1885. The Florida Railway and Navigation Company reorganized as the Florida Central and Peninsular Railroad (FC&P) in 1888. In 1900, a year after purchasing the majority of FC&P stock, the newly organized Seaboard Air Line Railway (now CSX Transportation) leased the FC&P and, in 1903, acquired it outright.

1905 Seaboard passenger station (now CSX Tallahassee operations), with old depot in background

In 1905, the Seaboard built a new passenger station across the street and east of the depot. This station remained the site of passenger service to Tallahassee until 1971 when, for the first time in 113 years, passenger service to Tallahassee ceased when Amtrak took over nationwide passenger rail service and discontinued the Gulf Wind, the New Orleans to Jacksonville train that had been serving the station at the time.

Passenger service to Tallahassee resumed in 1993 when Amtrak extended its Sunset Limited service east to Jacksonville from its former terminus in New Orleans. The 1905 passenger station had since been converted to use for the freight-related operations of CSX, the successor to Seaboard, and Amtrak began using the old depot as its Tallahassee passenger station.

However, passenger service was suspended in 2005 after Hurricane Katrina caused significant damage to tracks west of Tallahassee. Although the tracks were repaired in 2006, managerial and political obstacles have thus far precluded restoration of passenger service to the depot. It nevertheless remains actively signed as an Amtrak station.

On December 30, 1997, the depot was added to the U.S. National Register of Historic Places.

Gallery

• 

  View of west side of depot

• 

  Historical marker at depot

• 

  Northeast view of depot

• 

  View of west side of depot

• 

  1905 Seaboard station adjacent to depot

• 

  1905 Seaboard station adjacent to depot

• 

  1905 Seaboard station in 1922

References

• Leon County listings at National Register of Historic Places
• Leon County markers at Florida's Office of Cultural and Historical Programs
• Turner, Gregg M. (2008) A Journey into Florida Railroad History. Gainesville, Florida: University Press of Florida. ISBN 978-0-8130-3233-7

External links

• Amtrak – Stations – Tallahassee, FL
• 1969 photo of 1905 station with JP&MRR freight depot in background
• Tallahassee Amtrak Station (USA Rail Guide -- Train Web)