Tennessee Railway Depots...

Here are three railway depots that we photographed while exploring parts of Tennessee last year.

This is a combined passenger & freight depot in Smyrna. It was built in 1873 for the Nashville & Chattanooga Railroad. The trackage is now owned by CSX. The depot was built to support rail connections to key seaports at Charleston and New Orleans.

Here is the former Tennessee Central Railroad depot in Crossville. It was built in 1893 and it was abandoned by the railroad after the end of passenger service in 1968.

It was here that American hero, Sgt. Alvin York, arrived when coming home after WWI. Later, Gary Cooper was here while filming a movie about Sgt. York. The building is now being used as a gift shop and part of it can be rented out for special events.

This solid looking building is the oldest surviving railway depot in Tennessee. This depot was built in Niota in 1854 for the East Tennessee & Georgia Railroad. Originally, the town and depot were named 'Mouse Creek', but another town on the other side of Knoxville was named Mossy Creek and the mail kept getting mixed up. Both towns changed their name. Niota was the name of a well known Indian Chief. The building now serves as the City Hall.