covering our tracks

From Station to Station: A look at the Coast's Historic Train Depots

Words by Jeff Rosenberg

With all the fervor building up to the relaunch of Amtrak service to the Mississippi Gulf Coast, it reminded me how important rail service is to the creation of the Mississippi Gulf Coast we know today. Rail service is a commonality that all the larger cities of the coast share. A brief history of how rail service forever changed the coast can be found in our Spring 2021 newsletter (“150 Years Ago The Railroad Transformed the Coast”) available here.

In this article, we’ll look at what role train depots played in coast communities as passenger service ended in the late 1960s as interstate highways became the preferred method of travel. Of the eight depots we examined, five old depots in the towns of Bay St. Louis, Ocean Springs, Pascagoula, Picayune and Wiggins have been repurposed to include offices for the chamber of commerce organizations. The next most frequent occupant of the Coast’s old depots is museums. The great thing about these new uses is that the depots have remained accessible to the public. So, hop aboard as we visit the coast’s train depots.

Did we miss a depot? If so let us know about your train depot. While these buildings have served as something other than train depots for most of their history, they all remain important landmarks in their communities. It is exciting to think that soon the depots in Bay St. Louis, Gulfport, Biloxi and Pascagoula will join Picayune in having the bustle that passenger service brings.