(April 26, 2020) – The next phase of a project to preserve the Rock Island depot at Perry, Arkansas is underway. This past week workers began making repairs to the roof, which has been sagging and looking rough for years. The ceilings inside the wooden depot, thankfully, haven’t shown much sign of water damage, but we feared it was only a matter of time, so this was the next priority.
The Rock Island depot in Perry on April 25, 2020 with support beams in place as repairs begin to the roof. Unless otherwise noted, all photos were taken on that day by Michael Hibblen.
The northeast corner of the Perry depot after the overhang along the entire back side of the depot was restored this past week.
Workers set up scaffolding and began inspecting the roof, replacing bad rafters and decking. Part of that also involved restoring the full width of roof by extending the eave along the north side of the depot. It had been shaved off several feet for the entire length of the depot when the Little Rock & Western Railway built a locomotive servicing shop directly behind it in the 1980s. The cut looked rough, workers said, possibly having been done with a chain saw.
A crew with contractor Larry Cates works on the roof on April 23, 2020. Photo: Lynda Suffridge.
The plan was to just have workers make the most needed repairs and restore the back side of the overhang at a cost of $3,500, which includes labor and supplies. That has now been completed, but Buford Suffridge, president of the Perry County Historical & Genealogical Society, says the decision was made to go ahead and complete the rest of the roof repairs while workers are in position.
About $1,800 remains of a nearly $10,000 grant awarded last year by the Arkansas Economic Development Commission’s Division of Rural Services to help create a community meeting place inside the depot. We also have about $2,400 left in a depot account from donations that have been made over the last few years.
That won’t be enough to cover the overall cost of repairing the roof, which could run as high as an additional $5,000. But members of the Perry County Historical & Genealogical Society, which is a nonprofit, voted to loan enough money toward completing the roof so that the depot will be protected inside and not experience any additional water damage.
We hope to secure additional grant money after getting the depot listed on the National Register of Historic Places. You can also help by making a donation through our Go Fund Me account or mailing a check to the address listed at the bottom of this page.
Support beams are in place along the newly-restored eave of the roof.
The restored overhang on the north side of the depot is visible.
Over the long life of the more than a century-old depot, it appears layers of roofing shingles were added and replaced on top of what we believe might be the original roof. As workers examined the roof this week, the top layer of shingles were found to be rotten. But what was likely the salvation of the depot, Suffridge said, was the bottom layer of pressed metal shingles, which we think helped keep water from getting inside the depot.
Here is a section of the metal roof that was underneath the most recent layer of modern shingles. Photo: Buford Suffridge.
A worker shows how the pressed metal roof shingles are interlocked. Photo: Buford Suffridge.
The workers said they had never seen anything like the metal shingles. Rachel Patton, executive director of Preserve Arkansas, the group that has been helping coordinate the project, said there are some old houses in Little Rock that still have similar pressed metal roofs.
Temporary support beams have been put up while work is underway. Some of the original decorative supports on the depot may be removed as needed to access parts of the roof, but will eventually be put back in place.
Support beams for the roofing work are in place, while in the background is the depot’s original home.
The dire condition of the roof is clear along the south side of the depot. The two metal pieces sticking out from the telegrapher’s bay are for the semaphore signal, which is in storage and will eventually be placed back in front of the window.
There is quite a bit here to replace and no telling how bad the rafters will look underneath.
Some rafters have been replaced in the freight room, along with part of the ceiling. Hopefully we can minimize how much has to be replaced there, given that many employee names and dates are inscribed in the ceiling and walls. The freight room generally wasn’t seen by the public and many employees apparently opted to leave something behind for future generations to see. It’s unknown whether the dates are when the inscriptions were made or were the employees’ seniority dates.
Despite looking at the ceiling many times, during my most recent visit to the depot I noticed an inscription I hadn’t seen before. It said”BF SPARK AGT PERRY 1911.” Perhaps this was the name of one of the depot agents in the past. We’ll have to compare that to what records we have been able to obtain to check for such a name. If any wood has to be removed that includes a name, we’ll be sure to save it.
Some rafters in the freight room have been replaced, along with part of the ceiling.
In the ceiling of the freight room is one inscription that says “BF SPARK AGT PERRY 1911.”
The northeast corner of the depot roof shows how new material meets older material.
The south side of the depot is looking ready for work to begin there.
This was the original location of the depot, which is now an expanded locomotive servicing facility for the Little Rock & Western Railway. You can see the depot in the distance, still along the tracks, just a little further back.
The depot was going to be torn down by the Little Rock & Western, but the shortline railroad, which operates 79 miles of former Rock Island track west of Little Rock, gave us time to come up with a plan to have the building moved to an adjacent property. The depot is now owned by the City of Perry. If you would like to help in our effort to preserve a piece of railroad history, please make a donation!
You can also mail checks to:
Perry County Historical Museum
P.O. Box 1128
Perryville, AR 72126
You can read more about the background of this project and find previous and subsequent entries at the link before.
Preserving the Former Rock Island Passenger Depot at Perry, Arkansas
I welcome any additional information, photos, stories, comments or corrections. Write to: michael@hibblenradio.com.
