The Rock Island’s Perry, Arkansas depot in the early 1970s.
A nearly $10,000 grant from the Arkansas Economic Development Commission will be awarded to the City of Perry, Arkansas in a couple of weeks and provide critically-needed funds to finish moving a former Rock Island depot to an adjacent lot. The shortline Little Rock & Western Railway ended up owning the building along with a 79-mile stretch of former Rock Island tracks running from Little Rock to Danville, Arkansas. This was part of the railroad’s Sunbelt Line, which ran the famed Choctaw Rocket passenger trains between Memphis, Tennessee and Amarillo, Texas.
I’ve been working with the Perry County Historical and Genealogical Society to raise money and relocate the 101-year-old depot. The Little Rock & Western had planned to tear down the depot to expand a locomotive servicing shop. But the railroad gave us time to put together a plan with the city offering us an adjacent lot next to the railroad’s property. It’ll still be alongside the same tracks, which will help in maintaining historic integrity. Preserve Arkansas has been providing us with technical guidance with the goal of getting the depot eventually named to the National Register of Historic Places. READ THE LATEST.
Director of Public Affairs at Arkansas PBS, 36-year broadcasting veteran, photographer, interested in radio, TV and railroad history, author and host of the book and podcast series Rock Island Railroad in Arkansas.
