Built in 1856, the old Memphis and Charleston Railroad freight depot is Alabama’s oldest surviving example of railroad architecture and, along with the nearby passenger terminal (1860), apparently the only such antebellum depot complex left in the United States. During the Civil War, Huntsville’s important railroad facilities, including the freight depot, were captured by Union forces as part of their plan to sever Confederate rail links from east to west. The buildings were spared, for the most part, and the structures had remained surprisingly intact over the years. A 1997 grant from the Alabama Historical Commission to the Historic Huntsville Foundation re-roofed the structure, which was to be rehabilitated as part of the city of Huntsville’s long-range downtown revitalization program.
On March 10, 2004, fire ravaged the old freight depot, leaving only portions of the thick brick walls standing. Preservationists asked the owner—Norfolk Southern—for permission to stabilize the remaining walls as they continued to explore options to incorporate the ruins of the landmark into the long-range city plan. With limited options for funding and many other local priorities, the future of the old freight depot was in serious question.
Call it a preservation cliché—an eleventh-hour appeal to a corporate good citizen stops the bulldozer in its treads—but that is what happened when national preservation leaders and congressmen weighed in on behalf of Huntsville’s Memphis and Charleston Freight Depot. Norfolk Southern’s Chairman David Goode agreed to hand the building over to the Alabama Historical Commission and donate funds targeted toward its demolition to help stabilize the building. The AHC added the building to its endangered properties and allocated emergency funds. It will be held by the Historic Huntsville Foundation until a local group is able to take possession and restore it. “It was nervewrackingly close, but we did it,” said AHC Executive Director Lee H. Warner. “This is a real preservation success story. Now all we have to do is find a use and the money.”
Call it a preservation cliché—an eleventh-hour appeal to a corporate good citizen stops the bulldozer in its treads—but that is what happened when national preservation leaders and congressmen weighed in on behalf of Huntsville’s Memphis and Charleston Freight Depot. Norfolk Southern’s Chairman David Goode agreed to hand the building over to the Alabama Historical Commission and donate funds targeted toward its demolition to help stabilize the building. The AHC added the building to its endangered properties and allocated emergency funds. It will be held by the Historic Huntsville Foundation until a local group is able to take possession and restore it. “It was nervewrackingly close, but we did it,” said AHC Executive Director Lee H. Warner. “This is a real preservation success story. Now all we have to do is find a use and the money.”
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