Frankton History Club raises money to purchase historic train depot
The Frankton History Club has officially raised enough money to purchase the town’s now derelict century-old train depot. IPR’s Thomas Ouellette reports on future plans to reuse the historic building.
Jesse Pruitt is president of the Frankton History Club. He says the club plans to turn the depot into a museum of the town’s history and a community engagement center.
“The museum is, as a historian, it’s a passion, right?” said Pruitt. “Like saving and preserving that history. However, I think where it gives back to Frankton is that we’re hoping to have a meeting room, a kind of a community center.”
Built in 1892, the Frankton train depot served as a stop on the Pennsylvania Railroad, once the largest railroad in the world.
Pruitt says that the depot brought local significance to the city. “We had a stop,” he said. “That’s how people got to Frankton. We wouldn’t be near the size we are today without it.”
In 1963, the depot was scheduled for demolition. Instead, it was purchased by a member of the town for $1. The building changed ownership a few more times, before someone agreed to sell it to the Frankton History Club for $20,000.
“The biggest concern right now is that there’s actual holes in the roof, like you can see sunlight through, and so the whole thing could rot,” said Pruitt.
The rotting wood on the Frankton train depot. (Thomas Ouellette/IPR News)
Pruitt says the club is currently in the process of raising a further $10,000 to help cover the cost of repairs.
Once the ownership paperwork is finalized and renovation funds are raised, Pruitt hopes that work can begin in the next two months.
The club was able to raise the money to purchase the depot in less than a month. Pruitt says the outpouring of community support gives him hope the project will be successful.
After the remodels are complete, the building will stand as the first museum in the town’s history.
Thomas Ouellette is our reporter and producer. Contact him at [email protected]
