I have been told that the very first Crossville depot was actually a boxcar parked on a siding until a building could be built. The photo below shows the first constructed Crossville Depot and is from a series of postcards that were published around 1905, the time of the construction of the Cumberland Co. Courthouse. The series of postcards all have similar writing as you see here and included in addition to the Courthouse and the depot, banks, and churches. There is no identification as to who took the photos or who printed the series of postcards.
Another question is where exactly was this early depot located. I have been told it was across the street from the current depot, possibly on the location of the Triangle building but have been unable to confirm this. While the quality of the over 100-year-old photo printing is not the best you can make out a possible structure or something behind the depot on the right side. It appears the photo was taken in the winter by the coats on those in the photo and the bare trees.
By the way, THIS is the depot building that Sergeant Alvin C. York would have left from to go to WWI and returned to on his way home to Fentress Co. This building burned in February 1925 (about 5 weeks after records show a fire extinguisher was installed) and the current depot building was built and opened in about May of 1926.
Current Crossville Depot built in 1926
Interesting pic Jim. While it looks like it had a small storage area, the area without windows on the left side, it wasn't used for loading crops or anything of bulk. It would have had separate waiting rooms for black and white passengers in those days. Would have been the Tennessee Central by then.
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