(rshsdepot) Panama City, FL

[Bernie Wagenblast <brwagenblast_@_comcast.net>]

Railroad's arrival transformed Panama City
(Editor's note: This is the first of two articles on the Bay Line Railroad
and its depot in Panama City.)

Photos:
http://www.geocities.com/~ronkohlin/bayline/panamacitydepot-2.jpg
http://www.geocities.com/~ronkohlin/bayline/panamacitydepot-3.jpg
http://www.asab.info/pcstatn.html (1993)


MARLENE WOMACK
Contributing Writer - The News Herald

Through the years, the Bay Line Depot has seen it all: excursionists coming
to Panama City to visit Lands End, Mrs. Theodore Roosevelt arriving for a
winter stay in St. Andrews, George C. Patton's troops parading and
demonstrating equipment in Panama City, servicemen leaving during World War
II and hurricanes washing away tracks.

Now the building stands vacant and alone as preservationists attempt to save
this old landmark, deeply woven in Bay County history.

THE ATLANTA & ST. ANDREWS BAY RAILWAY

Railroads had been chartered and promised to residents living along St.
Andrew Bay since the 1880s. The Louisville & Nashville was completed from
Pensacola to River Junction (Chattahoochee) in 1883. After having east-west
travel available across the state, people looked forward to a railroad
running south from the L&N that would provide passenger service and a faster
way for shipping fish, naval stores and other products.

A.B. Steele, owner of Georgia's Enterprise Lumber Co., visited St. Andrew
Bay in 1904 and was impressed with the potential this section held as a
seaport, especially with the Panama Canal under construction at that time.
Steele's timber holdings in Pitts and Worth, Ga., were exhausted, and he
attempted to purchase large tracts in this area but could not make the
transactions.

In need of new forest land, he began investing in timber south of Dothan,
Ala., and extended his lumber company into that area. On June 23, 1905, he
signed a contract to build a 30-mile railway between Dothan and Cottondale.
At the same time, Steele continued trying to buy property to the south so he
could extend his railroad to the bay. He also planned to eventually bring
the rail line north to Atlanta.

Two years after his first visit to the bay, Steele found landowners more
receptive to his plans. Although shown property at Long Point, Dyers Point
and other locations, Steele selected Harrison, which G.M. West of the Gulf
Coast Development Co. was busy promoting with R.L. McKenzie and A.J. Gay.

On Feb. 16, 1906, Steele signed a contract with them, incorporated under the
laws of Alabama, to build the Atlanta & St. Andrews Bay Railway with
Harrison as its terminal. Steele drew a straight line from Chicago to the
Panama Canal and noticed that it passed directly over Harrison, so he
renamed the town Panama City for the connection he hoped exporters would use
to the canal.

THE RAILROAD REACHES PANAMA CITY

After a number of obstacles that involved the L&N not wanting the A.&
St.A.B.R.W. to pass over its tracks, the financial panic of 1907 and severe
bouts with heavy rain, Steele finally brought the first passenger train into
Panama City over his 82 mile line on June 29, 1908.

Blaring whistles and horns from mills and boats announced the arrival of 250
travelers who alighted from the cars to a wooden platform. From that point,
they plodded their way through the deep sand to awaiting wagons and boats.
Others trudged to wooden boardwalks that led to nearby hotels around
Harrison Avenue.

But financial problems plagued Steele. In order to complete his railroad, he
borrowed funds from his friend, Asa Candler, Coca-Cola's founder, in
Atlanta. When Steele died, Candler permitted Steele's son and daughter, Ben
and Mrs. Alice S. Powers, to purchase the railroad from him.

But when they encountered more financial difficulties, they sold it to Minor
C. Keith, a successful railroad builder in Costa Rica.

Mid-July found workmen filling in sand and driving rows of pilings for a
50-foot-wide dock that would permit trains to stop at the depot then pull
over the water to load and unload shipments from awaiting boats and larger
vessels.

When completed, the depot was typical of its day with separate waiting rooms
and ticket windows for blacks and whites. It also contained a baggage
express room, storage area and offices.

THE PINES HOTEL

In 1910, the A.& St. A.B.R.W. constructed the building that would become
part of the Pines Hotel, south of what is now Sixth Street and Beach Drive,
facing the bay. At first, railroad officials used this $59,000 structure as
a clubhouse, naming it "The Pines" for the large stand of pines that had
once stood in this location.

Then in 1919, the railroad enlarged and remodeled the small hotel,
installing lights, heat and plumbing at a cost of about $70,000. By the time
renovations were completed, The Pines ranked as Panama City's largest hotel.
It looked similar to the big hotels that lined Florida's East Coast and
featured 48 rooms; wide, spacious porches with rocking chairs; and gorgeous
views of the bay, especially at dawn and dusk.

The modernized hotel also drew raves with its large, cool dining room and
screened verandah, a tile-floored kitchen containing big refrigerators, a
fountain with goldfish in the courtyard and a bandstand surrounded by
shrubs, trees and carefully tended lawns. A walkway led to the beach and
dock. The Pines specialized in seafood and was "the place to go" in the
early 1920s.

In its advertisements, the hotel promoted the healing powers of the resinous
pines and the advantages of inhaling pure sea air. Travelers rode the train
south, then spent their vacations at The Pines. The hotel also played host
to Christmas balls, dances, banquets, parties and meetings until the
construction of the Cove and Dixie Sherman hotels in the late 1920s.

Both The Pines and the old depot stood on property now covered by oil tanks.

The ownership of the hotel was questioned in 1921, however, since remodeling
costs appeared to be draining railroad funds. In a hearing, it was stated
that the railroad received the land specifically for construction of
terminal tracks, shops, docks, etc. - but not a hotel.

In reply, representatives of the A. & St.A.B.R.W. explained that it was not
the railroad but the St. Andrews Bay Lumber Co., headed by W.C. Sherman,
that refurbished The Pines. Keith, owner of the railroad, had business
connections with Sherman, who headed the lumber company.

THE DEPOT FIRE

Most large buildings were constructed of wood in the early 1900s. Fires were
not unusual in Panama City and elsewhere along the Gulf Coast. Many blazes
started with sparks from chimneys, flues and locomotive smokestacks. Others
remained a mystery. A few even whispered that some of these fires of unknown
origins were started for the insurance proceeds.

About 9 p.m. on Jan. 7, 1924, a fisherman at Bryan's fish house, below the
depot, discovered fire coming from the second story at the south end of the
building. He ran to his boss who turned in the alarm. The flames in the dry,
pitch-pine building advanced quickly, breaking through the roof. Soon, fire
engulfed the whole length of the structure, giving off tremendous heat.

By the time firefighters arrived, the entire inside of the depot was a mass
of flames. The firemen immediately encountered problems because the 6-inch
main in the street would not supply enough water. More time was lost when
the hose had to be cut so the engine could haul away rail cars standing
south of the platform that were in danger of catching fire.

In the meantime, curious crowds gathered as huge flames shot high in the
air, illuminating the sky for miles.

Once the fire truck was able to park on the cleared dock and pump directly
from the bay, two powerful 80-foot-long streams of salt water poured from
the hoses and helped extinguish the blaze.

(Next week: Rebuilding the Depot and the Pine Hotel fire.)

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