(rshsdepot) Fort White, FL

[Bernie Wagenblast <brwagenblast_@_comcast.net>]

Photo link:
http://www.lakecityreporter.com/news/photos/020328n2.jpg  (station being
moved)

Station rolls back into town

By SAMANTHA SINCLAIR
ssinclair_@_lakecityreporter.com
Lake City Reporter

March 28, 2002

FORT WHITE

A former focal point of this town along the Ichetucknee River has been
brought back to be a new community centerpiece. On Wednesday morning, a
handful of residents watched as a truck carried the small
more-than-a-century-old train station to its original location on U.S. 27,
just west of State Road 47.

"The train station used to sit right there," said Gary Wilbur, president of
the Fort White Area Chamber of Commerce, as the truck backed the old
building to the spot across the street from the B&B gas station. "We're
hoping this will become a nice focal point for the Fort White area."

The building primarily will be a trail head for the O'Leno-to-Ichetucknee
bike trail, Tourist Development Director Harvey Campbell said. Once
refurbished, it also will house a museum, welcome center and possibly the
chamber of commerce.

"It will be kind of an all-around use building," Wilbur said.

"I think it's a tremendous investment," Campbell said, adding the structure
would certainly be listed on the National Register of Historic Buildings.

According to Fort White Historical Society President Joan Shelton, the
railroad was brought to the area in 1888, and the train station was probably
built sometime between 1886 and 1888. She said Fort White was important
because the train station made it a hub for people from Lake City and
surrounding areas to ship produce and crops to other areas. In the early
1980s, the train station discontinued service.

"That's when Fort White started to decline, when the railroad went out,"
Shelton said.

Wilbur said the building was purchased in 1982 by a Branford man who
transported the building to his feed mill farm. About 8-9 months ago, the
man approached the town officials to see if they were interested in
purchasing the building, and with the chamber's urging, the town bought back
the train station.

The original asking price for the building was $35,000, but the amount was
reduced to $10,000.

"Because it was going back to Fort White where it originally came from, he
dropped the price," Wilbur said. To move the building back to Fort White,
the cost was another $10,000.

Wilbur said another $5,000 has been reserved for the project and will be
used to add a fence, patch the roof and secure the area. About another
$150,000 will be needed to refurbish the building, including installing a
parking lot. Wilbur said the town and the chamber would be looking for
private donations, as well as grants to pay for the remainder of the
project, which should be complete in 12-18 months.

"It's been a fun project and we still have a long way to go, of course,"
Wilbur said.

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The Railroad Station Historical Society maintains a database of existing
railroad structures at: http://www.rrshs.org

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