Small towns often cherish their past histories and historical sites. In Thompson’s Station, the train depot certainly fits both of these categories.
Named after Dr. Elijah Thompson, who donated the property on which the village was built, the depot and tracks were once used by farmers for shipping animals and products to far-off markets. (Due to the large amount of grain grown in the area, Thompson’s Station was actually known as the German Millet Capital of the World.)
After the first depot building was destroyed in the Battle of Thompson's Station, another one was erected in 1866. With the popularity of automobiles, the depot fell into disuse and was eventually dismantled in 1952. But, that’s not the end of its story.
“From what I understand, the town is one of the very few, if not the only, municipal jurisdiction with an apostrophe in its name,” says Micah Wood, community economic developer with the Town of Thompson’s Station that now owns the depot. “And of course,
the ‘Station’ part of the name references this historical depot as a big part of the community's identity and character.”
It was so important to the town that, in 1993, the depot was recreated. “In the late 80s and early 90s, David Coleman, Cherry Jackson, and some other community leaders got together and felt that Thompson’s Station was a distinct community and needed to be an incorporated part of the county and have a city government. The leading force behind that was Thompson’s Station Community Association and one of the things that it focused on early was rebuilding the depot with donations from town patrons.” After that, the building went through many incarnations, and for the last 20 years or so, had been the site of the Town Hall before it was moved to its new location.
Plans are now in the works to once again make the train depot a focal point of the town. “The board of mayor and aldermen approved the Parks Master Plan, and as part of that, we have a new Caboose and Depot Park,” he says. “The caboose is iconic and we want to
preserve that. We're also going to add picnic tables and maybe some covered seating and chairs. Hopefully, folks will want to come out and enjoy the area by the train tracks.”
The actual tracks, he believes, are only used in the event that the main line becomes congested.
Adding additional parking and a plaza in front of the caboose is also on the list. Here, they’ll host food trucks, concerts and other things of interest to the community. Also, since Thompson’s Station Road is a big draw for cyclists, Micah states they plan to add a
maintenance area for bicycles too.
As far as the interior of the depot, which he says is about 2,100 square feet, they’re considering various ideas. “We do want to make it into a community building, so perhaps if a neighborhood HOA needs to have a meeting, they can reserve the meeting room in the back
of the building.”
Bringing Thompson’s Station train depot and the area around it back to life is an exciting development for the town. “We really want to highlight once again what an important part of the community that area is,” says Micah.
Thompsons-Station.com/2187/Re-Building-the-Depot
Thompsons-Station.com/2526/Parks-Master-Plan