Train Depot

The depot served as the primary entry point for excursion trains during the Florida Chautauqua assemblies from 1885 to 1928, when as many as 4,000 passengers a day arrived at the station at the height of the Chautauqua era. Performing bands welcomed arriving passengers before guests went to a ticket gatehouse next to the original depot to buy a daily pass or season ticket to enter the grounds. The original 1885 depot stood in the middle of what is now Circle Drive, was torn down, and was replaced on the site of the current structure. No records determine whether the second structure was remodeled or replaced, but evidence shows the structure now standing was remodeled in 1910 to accommodate the enormous excursion-train crowds. Notable lecturers who arrived by train included Harriet Beecher Stowe, Clara Barton, J. Sterling Morton, Julia Ward Howe, Vice President Thomas Marshall, and William Jennings Bryan.

DeFuniak Springs, Florida · United States