The Seaboard Coastline Railroad deeded the old depot, built in 1926, to the City of Avon Park in 1979, and the building was leased to the Historical Society of Avon Park. The Depot Museum was created and dedicated in 1981, and through the efforts of several pioneer residents and Leoma Maxwell, the museum of local history was dedicated in May 1981. In 1986, a railroad dining car was acquired and placed permanently next to the museum.