The Cotton Belt Railroad Depot

The Cotton Belt Railroad Depot. . , The Grapevine Depot was constructed in about 1901, and probably replaced an earlier, simpler structure that would have served as a terminal for passenger and freight services. The station was originally located in the middle of main Street, about 30 feet west of its present site, with the road curving around the building and then ending in farm fields 100yards or so south. , The St. Louis Southwestern Railway, always fondly called the Cotton Belt, arrived in Grapevine in 188 as its tracks reached from the Texas? Arkansas border towards Fort Worth. Railroad service brought new prosperity to the Grape Vine Prairie by making goods easier to bring in to the remote agricultural community and speeding shipment of products grown here - mostly cotton in the late 19th century - to markets by way of St. Louis and the Mississippi River. Later, after the turn of the century, trucks crops grown locally were shipped by rail to Dallas, Fort Worth and other nearby markets. The Depot, with its segregated passenger waiting rooms telegrapher's / station agent's office and large freight storage room, was a hub of commercial activity in the early 1900s. Farming implements and equipment were shipped in , and even building materials for the many new homes built near downtown in the early years of the century arrived at the Depot by flatcar. By the 1930s. however, automobiles and trucks were increasingly common and ridership on the Cotton Belt to and from Grapevine declined. In 1937, the railroad decided to demolish a portion of the building, probably to save maintenance costs. While a 42- foot section of the structure was removed - from the center of the building - the remaining structure was also move some 50 feet east to allow the town to Straighten main Street. The "colored' waiting room and half the freight room were removed during this renovation. In about 1961 the remaining waiting room on the west end of the Depot was also demolished, leaving only the office and a portion of the freight room behind. , By 1972 the Cotton Belt decided to abandon the Depot altogether, but thanks to the efforts of a number of citizens including Mrs. Alberta Nettleton and the Grapevine garden Club, the building was saved and given to the city. Moved in 1973 to Heritage park about a mile north west of here, the Depot became the home of the newly formed Grapevine Historical Society's Historical Museum. , The original railroad land became available for purchase in 1991, and the Grapevine Heritage Foundation acquired the 3.2 acre site to develop the Grapevine Heritage Center. The Depot and the Cotton Belt Section Foreman's House, also moved away from its original site decades before, were moved back to their appropriate locations. the Heritage Foundation raised funs through major grants from the Meadows Foundation, the Ann B. Lancaster Memorial Fund, Joe and Cecelia Box, numerous local civic organizations, corporations and more than 160 individuals to restore the Depot to its original 1901 size and appearance. Reopened on January 31, 1994, exactly 22 years after its closure by the Cotton Belt Railroad, The Depot serves new generations of Grapevine residents and visitors as a reminder of the community's rich railroad history , Restoration Project Completed January 31, 1994, , Architects; ArchiTexas, Craig Melde, Larry Irsik, Gary Skotnicki , Restoration Contractors; Leeds Clark, Tom Clark, Mike Compton, Randy Byars, Steve Patton, David Huskins, Roy Noyola, Johnny Garcia, , Framing Contractors Russell Anderson Construction, Russell Anderson, Jack Gaevin, Volunteer "Depot Raising" Committee; Roy Stewart, Jess Daniels, Bryan Klein, David Shrun, Keith mercer, John Spears, P.W. Mccallum, Mike Webb