The Perry depot in May 1965, photographed by Clifton Hull and recently scanned by Bill Pollard.
I’ve been working with the Perry County Historical and Genealogical Society as members have tried to come up with a plan to move and preserve the former Rock Island depot in Perry, Arkansas. The century-old building is an incredible relic of a different era in America when rails were the connection to the outside world.
After the Rock Island was shut down in 1980, that stretch of track became the Little Rock & Western Railway, which built a small locomotive servicing shed behind the depot. But today the shortline wants to build a new shop there and is giving the preservationists a limited time to move the depot. They’ve found a possible location a few hundred feet away, but an estimate for moving it is much more than they were hoping for. You can read my latest update, which includes a couple of recently scanned vintage images. Or to get more background on the project, including photos of the interior of the building, see my post from last August. The depot, which still has the semaphore train order signals, is the Rock Island’s last Arkansas depot still standing west of Little Rock.
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.
