Commerce or Second Street Crossing

Commerce or Second Street Crossing. . , 2nd Street (earlier known as Commerce Street) crossed the railroad at an angle. This was the main street of the town of Big Lick. Facing the tracks, east is to your right, west to your left; you are looking north.

A busy section of the railroad, this made for a hazardous crossing. A gate watchmen's tower (see photo at right) stood on the northwest corner. A watchman kept a close eye on traffic, and would climb down the ladder to raise or lower crossing gates. Eventually, these gates became electrically controlled, triggered by a circuit within the track, eliminating the operator. These watchmen were frequently employees who had been injured and no loner able to perform their original jobs.

On the northeast corner stood the original Big Lick depot. When the first train arrived in Big Lick on November 1, 1852, there was apparently no station. A small wooden structure was built in the Spring of 1853 and functioned as the first station. Sometime after the War Between the States, the Atlantic, Mississippi and Ohio, built a combination freight and passenger depot (see Ma Meadows at bottom). About 1881, a large brick depot replaced the wooden structure.

When Big Lick became Roanoke in 1882, the new passenger station was constructed closer to Hotel Roanoke, to the east, and the center of town moved towards the present downtown traffic area. This is a busy rail traffic area, which was bridged over by Gainsboro Road Bridge. The brick station, long unused, survived just past 100 years before falling to the wrecking ball.