Dedicated to historic railroad depots in the U.S.


Over 8,400 surviving depots are plotted on dynamic Google maps.

Over 2,275 high quality photos are available
accessible by clicking on map markers, or by State and Railroad groupings.


    
R e c e n t l y   A d d e d   P h o t o s


Need help finding depots? Maybe the maps on this site will help. This site contains maps of 46 of the United States with markers indicating the locations of historic railroad depots. If you're taking a trip by car check these maps first - you'll be able to determine what depots are located along your route.
 
Put the cursor over a State's name to see how many photos are available. Click on the State's name to view the map for that State. Markers on the map show the locations of depots in the State. Clicking on a marker returns some basic information on the depot. If pictures are available (and almost 2,300 are) they are also displayed.

Detailed statistics on depots & pictures per state are available here. To view depots grouped by the railroads that built them click on the railroad heralds at the bottom of this page.  To view photos that I have of depots listed on the National Register of Historic Places click here.


Recent Updates

West Virginia - Charles Bogart
Illinois - Louis Van Winkle
Two large updates - each with 75+ photos:
Virginia (plus some others) - JD Jones
Georgia (plus some others) - Steve Rowe

Other Contributors
Jim Lowman    Tom Lucas      Ron Reiring            JD Jones      Peter Wolfgram     Mary Ann / John Montgomery
David Voeltz    Dale Owens    Earl Leatherberry    Jeff Borne     Jim Spears           Jenny / Darin Adolph              

Motivation for these Maps

My depot mapping project began as a way to display the pictures I've taken of passenger train stations. During the early phase of my depot-hunting exploits I simply visited towns to see if I could locate a depot. While I found this an interesting "treasure hunt", it did result in a lot of wasted time and gas!

Once I discovered the national database of railroad depots (www.rrshs.org) my hit rate improved dramatically! However, it still took me significant time to determine which depots existed along various routes I might be traveling - what counties would I be passing through, and where were the depots located within these counties.

To resolve this issue I started mapping the locations of depots I hadn't yet visited. Eventually I switched to an on-line map with depot locations color-coded for visited or not, with or without pictures, etc. These maps allowed me to optimize my routes on picture-taking weekends. And, when traveling out-of-state, I could tell what depots would be close-by during the trip.


What the Maps Offer

The maps include the locations of depots that still exist, and the locations where they were originally sited if they have been moved. The maps do not mark the locations of depots that no longer exist. Just keeping track of the depots that still exist is tough since many have been moved multiple times, been split in half, converted to other uses, etc!

The map markers are color coded, and clicking on a marker will show info and/or pictures.  The color code used on the maps is as follows:
   
Green -  A depot on (or near) its original site, with a photo available
   
Red  -    A depot on (or near) its original site, without a photo
   
Blue  -   A relocated depot, with a photo available
   
Yellow - A relocated depot, without a photo
   
Purple - The site where a relocated depot was originally sited

One subtle point is that all markers are not visible from the high-level view of a state's map. That is because depots in close proximity have their markers so closely placed that they appear as one. If a marker's shadow is darker than the others, that is an indication that multiple markers are at that location - zoom in for a better look. Zoom in on the map by double-clicking an area near the depots you're interested in. Do this several times until your low-level view allows you to discern the individual markers.

If you're just interested in looking at pictures of depots, the states with the most pictures are (in order) North Carolina, Michigan, Texas, Minnesota, South Carolina, Ohio and Iowa. To see the complete list click here. Select a state from the list on the left side of this screen, then either click on a green or blue map marker, or click on the "View All Photos" icon at the upper left corner of each state's page.

Note: I don't count a depot as relocated unless it has been moved more than a few blocks - depots moved back from the tracks, or moved across the street, don't count as relocated.  I'm sure there are a number of errors since it isn't always obvious from the addresses / descriptions how far a depot has been moved. (It seems that every wooden depot has been moved, while few brick/stone depots have been!)

Also note that I don't have all 50 states covered. In fact, I don't have all 48 contiguous states covered. Three states (Massachusetts, New Jersey and South Carolina) do not have RRSHS-compliant data available, nor have I included Hawaii or Alaska. Although not in the RRSHS database, I have included markers and pictures for South Carolina thanks to the work of John Jones.

Geotagging

In order to plot the depots on the maps, I need to determine the latitude/longitude of each depot. Unfortunately, over 10% of the depots listed in the RRSHS database have no address specified, and another 20%-30% have vague addresses. Therefore, in many instances the plots are off-base, especially in large metro areas. If you find instances where depot markers are misplaced please send me a note. To determine the latitude/longitude you can zoom in on the map to locate the depot. Double-click on the depot location to center the map on that spot. You will then see the coordinates in text below the map - that is the info I need.


To view depots grouped by their original owners click the heralds below.
The owner  information was obtained from the RRSHS database.
In some cases multiple railroads are listed in the RRSHS to
show successor ownership. In those cases, those
depots will reside under multiple heralds.
*  *  *
Also note that all depots shown on DepotMaps.com 
 are not shown under heralds. There are over 800 railroads listed
in the RRSHS database, and I have at least 1 picture of about 240 of those.
The heralds below represent most railroads for which I have multiple depot photos.
I will be adding heralds as they become available, and as photos are added to my collection.