Southern Railway Depot (Decatur, Alabama)
The Southern Railway Depot is a historic building in Decatur, Alabama. The depot was built in 1904–05 along the Southern Railway line. Decatur had become a transportation hub of North Alabama by the 1870s, with its connections to the Tennessee River, the east-west Tuscumbia, Courtland and Decatur Railroad, and the north-south Louisville and Nashville Railroad.
The Southern's last train through the city was the Tennessean. The last train by the L&N, and the train with the last route going south toward Alabama's largest cities, was the Pan-American, which ended in 1971. Other L&N trains passing through were the Azalean and the Humming Bird. The depot last functioned as a passenger station in 1979, when Amtrak cancelled its Floridian service.
The station is built of brick painted white, with quoins on the corners. The building has a rectangular central section with narrower wings stretching along the tracks. The central section has a hipped roof, while the wings have gable roofs; both have deep eaves with decorative brackets. The main entrance is covered by a porte-cochère with arched openings. The depot was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1980.
