Tate L&N Depot, 1916, Pickens County, GA

L&N Depot

The Tate, or L&N (Louisville and Nashville) Depot was built in 1916, mainly to serve the Georgia Marble Company which was founded by Samuel Tate in 1884. The rail line also carried passengers southbound to Marietta, GA, or northbound through the twists and turns of the Blue Ridge Mountains to Etowah, TN.

The passenger service stopped in the 1940s, but the depot was still used as offices and storage for the L&N Railroad, and later by CSX Transportation. As you can see, the building is no longer in use and appears to be

L&N Depot from Hwy 53

suffering from a lack of maintenance. However, there are plans in the works, and a large federal grant has been given to move the depot across the street and have it restored.

There is some speculation that the reason for this is two-fold; one is to preserve the historical structure, another is to widen Hwy 53 at this point to accommodate the heavily loaded trucks transporting marble from the still-operating Georgia Marble Company.

The depot is included in an area that was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2005.

February 1, 2016, Update:

Passing through Tate in January I was able to see the newly renovated and relocated depot. Picked up and moved across Hwy 53 from the old site last year, the depot will now serve a new purpose, though what that will be still seems to be unknown. My only complaint is that the clay tiles were removed from the roof and saved, but were not used as part of the renovation. Overall, I'm glad it was preserved instead of razed, or used for fire department practice. Good job, Pickens County.

Photographer facing NE from S. Railroad Street