Hopkinsville L & N Railroad Depot

Infobox_nrhp | name =Hopkinsville L & N Railroad Depot
nrhp_type =


caption =
location= Hopkinsville, Kentucky
lat_degrees = 36
lat_minutes = 51
lat_seconds = 49
lat_direction = N
long_degrees = 87
long_minutes = 29
long_seconds = 7
long_direction = W
locmapin = Kentucky
area =
built =1892
architect= Unknown
architecture= Other
added = August 01, 1975
governing_body = Private
refnum=75000745cite web|url=http://www.nr.nps.gov/|title=National Register Information System|date=2008-04-15|work=National Register of Historic Places|publisher=National Park Service]

The L & N Railroad Depot in the Hopkinsville Commercial Historic District of Hopkinsville, Kentucky is a historic railroad station on the National Register of Historic Places. It was built by the Louisville & Nashville Railroad in 1892. [ [http://prairiebluestem.blogspot.com/2006/03/hopkinsvilles-railroad.html Prairie Bluestem: Hopkinsville's Railroad ] ]

The year 1832 saw the first of many attempts to woo a railroad to Hopkinsville. This first attempt was to connect Hopkinsville to Eddyville, Kentucky. In 1868 Hopkinsville finally obtained a railroad station, operated by the Evansville, Henderson, & Nashville Railroad. The Louisville & Nashville Railroad acquired the railroad in 1879. [ [http://railfanning.org/trackside/hopkinsville.htm Railfanning in Hopkinsville, Ky ] ]

The Hopkinsville depot is a single-story frame building with a slate roof. It has six rooms: a Ladies Waiting room (the room closest to the street), a General Waiting Room, a Colored Waiting Room, a baggage room (the furthest room from the street), a ticket office (the only room which connected to all three waiting rooms), and a ladies' restroom. Immediately outsides were warehouses for freight, usually tobacco. [Berg, Walter. "Buildings and Structures of American Railroads" (J. Wiley & Sons, 1893) pg.334,335]

During its operating years, the Hopkinsville depot was a popular layover spot for those traveling by train. It was the only Louisville & Nashville station between Evansville, Indiana and Nashville, Tennessee where it was legal to drink alcohol. Hopkinsville got the nickname "Hop town" due to train passengers asking the conductors when they would arrive at Hopkinsville, so they could "hop off and get a drink". [Rennick, Robert. "Kentucky Place Names" (University Press of Kentucky, 1984) pg.144]

The Hopkinsville L & N Railroad Depot was placed on the National Register of Historic Places on August 1, 1975. It is now used by the Pennyrile Arts Council. The organization was founded in 1977 to promote culture in the Hopkinsville area. CSX, which bought out the Louisville & Nashville, still run trains on the tracks next to the depot, but do not stop. [ [http://www.pennyroyalarts.org/AboutPAC.asp Pennyroyal Arts Council - Hopkinsville, KY ] ]

References