Scottsville Train Depot Museum to open Saturday

BOWLING GREEN, Ky. – Restoration of a nearly 140-year-old railroad depot gets its first display as a museum on Saturday.

The Scottsville train station was built in 1886 and served for nearly 90 years.

“It gave Allen Countians and Scottsvillians an opportunity to do things they’ve never been able to do,” said Mark Huntsman, project director for Scottsville L&N Depot.

The museum will display pictures dating from the 1800s to original documents, routes and L&N’s caboose and locomotive cab. 

“This will be the grand opening of our reconstructed passenger station,” Huntsman said.

A pivotal part of the Louisville and Nashville railroad system, major transports included tobacco, strawberries, oil and more. 

“We had the oil boom here. People would come from New York and Chicago by train to Scottsville to invest in the oil business,” Huntsman said.

Business came to an end in 1975. Now the Scottsville L&N depot, the Laura Goad Turner Charitable Foundation and Allen County Historical Society are making efforts to preserve its history.

Photos courtesy of Porsha Hernandez

Huntsman says it is vital to keep records alive on what made an economic and social impact on Scottsville and Allen County.

“Just knowing that we’ve restored something in Scottsville and Allen County that somebody didn’t tear down, there’s so many railroad depots that have been demolished that people don’t have the knowledge about.”

When people walk through the museum, they can take a glimpse into the past of the bustlin’ boom of what once was an essential piece of Scottsville transportation.

“Let’s see if we can keep something before it falls down. it’s 140 years old and try to preserve it for future generations to see what actually happened in the period between 1886 and 1976,” he said.

The museum is collecting funds to continue and complete its expansion of the station.