[rev_slider about-the-depot]
In July of 1880, viagra 100mg passenger trains arrived in Traverse for the first time via the Chicago and West Michigan Railroad. While these first trains were met by an excited crowd of onlookers, buy cialis the first permanent freight and passenger depots were not completed until the fall of 1880. The original passenger depot was located east of Union Street, right next to the Hannah, Lay grist Mill. The freight depot still stands today at the corner of Cass and Lake, and currently houses the Om Cafe. The next significant change came in 1899 when the C&WM combined with the Flint & Pere Marquette and the Detroit, Grand Rapids and Western to form the Pere Marquette Railroad. For the next few decades, the use of these rails continued to grow. With business booming, the Pere Marquette made the decision to build a new Traverse City Depot on Boardman Lake. On January 6, 1927, the brand new depot opened to high acclaim, with railroad officials claiming it as the finest station along the entire Pere Marquette line. It has certainly stood the test of time, as this depot continues to thrive as the current home of the Filling Station Microbrewery!
Following WWII, the rail business, which had played such an integral part of the development of the Traverse City area, began to drop off sharply. Unfortunately, regular intercity passenger train service ended on October 29, 1966. After a period of inactivity, the Depot building has housed a variety of businesses including a bank, coffee shop, an Eco-car company, and a furniture store. Since1966, sight-seeing passenger trains have operated off and on from Traverse City, including Lake Central Railroad Tours, which operated a summer excursion train during the Cherry Festival. In addition, from 1996 to 2004 the Grand Traverse Dinner Train opperated year round service from the Traverse City Depot to Williamsburg and to Walton Junction. Currently, the Great Lakes Central Railroad provides freight rail service to the Traverse City area on track owned by the state of Michigan. This freight traffic transports fruit/perishables, scrap metal, and lumber. There is optimism that passenger service will once again return to these rails (stay tuned for updates)! Until then we will continue to enjoy some ales by the rails.
Credit for the information in this brief history:
– “Sails & Rail: A Narrative History of Transportation in the Traverse City Region”, by Lawrence & Lucille Wakefield.
– Wikipedia.org
