Railroad Depots of Central Ohio

By the mid-1850s, the railroad craze had hit central Ohio. Pioneer railroads that were to evolve into portions of the Baltimore and Ohio, New York Central, and Pennsylvania Railroads connected the state capital, Columbus, with the canals, Lake Erie, and the Ohio River. The region was crisscrossed by numerous other lines by 1880; Columbus became the main hub while other railroad centers included Circleville, Delaware, Mansfield, Mount Vernon, Newark, and Zanesville. Hundreds of depots were built throughout central Ohio to serve railroad passengers and to handle baggage, mail, and freight. Depots became the center of commerce and activity at communities—big and small. With the discontinuance of passenger trains across the Buckeye State, many depots disappeared from trackside—many simply demolished, others relocated for non-railroad uses. Railroad Depots of Central Ohio offers a pictorial history of selected depots, centering around Columbus and Franklin County, using old postcards and vintage photographs.