Just a note to clarify the caboose situation at the Bentonville, AR depot. The caboose is a Rock Island car that had been somewhat defaced and stripped, bought from a fellow in Oklahoma who had several. The number on the side is part of Chamber of Commerce's phone number, and the coonskin and "Ship It" were done by local sign painter. Local garage sales, etc. raised money for cosmetic restoration. The depot has been Chamber offices since it was rehabilitated, but they are now outgrowing it and talking about moving. Crossbucks are cosmetic, since end of track is 3/4 mile to the east these days.
Bentonville, AR depot. Hello Frisco Folks, Here is another photograph of the Frisco depot in Bentonville, AR. Take care, Rich Ship it on the Frisco!
Please see the following links for a trackside and street side view of the Bentonville, AR depot. http://www.flickr.com/photos/digital_idiot/910362295/sizes/l/ (street side) http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&sou...2,25.483982000000026,,0,0&photoid=po-30107975 (trackside) http://www.trainweb.org/arkansastrains/railroad/slsfdepot/SLSFbentonvilledepot/IMJ18385.htm (trackside) http://www.trainweb.org/arkansastrains/railroad/slsfdepot/SLSFbentonvilledepot/IMH33903.htm (note former CRIP caboose) The depot's agent / operator bay faces south. Railroad west is to the left in the trackside view. Although the caboose on site is painted for the Frisco is actually a former Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific (CRIP) caboose. The depot address is 500 South Main Street. The depot has been occupied by the Bentonville Chamber of Commerce. Hope this helps. Thanks! Mark
Current occupant is Downtown Bentonville, Inc. So feel free to visit with them. the City Parks Department maintains the adjacent pocket park with small pavilion inspired by the depot. Diagonal from the station across Main Street there was an open freight shed that lasted until 1960 or so. There was also a bunker where a lumber yard stored sand. The large canning plant south of the tracks had a steam whistle like most such facilities of its time. They would whistle a code when they needed workers. Canning went away and it was a mattress and pillow factory when it burned in the early 1950s. Ever hear a 55 gallon drum of feathers explode? At a later date than the map, but I would not think much later, there was a small Armor Meat Company facility on the north side of tracks at the west edge of the map. Pretty much out of business by 1960, when we built a homecoming float in their truck bay. Became a surplus shop and was replaced about 1980 by a metal building for Mayo Building Supply, who received its last freight car a year or two before the tracks were taken up. The paint job on the caboose is cause for some grief by Rock Island fans, but at least it is pretty well preserved. The great Ship it on the Frisco! graphic was created and executed by local sign painter in the mid 1990s.
I had a request today for information. Representative of a nearby museum wants to know when the Bentonville depot was built. She was asking my mother, who could not come up with anything definite. There is information about it around town. I need to put some effort into digging it up, but in the meanwhile if someone has the answer to get her started on her project, we would appreciate it.
The current Bentonville, AR Frisco depot dates to about 1900. The Arkansas and Oklahoma (A&O) Railroad completed an impressive two-story depot in Bentonville. Shortly after the November 1900 Frisco purchase of the Arkansas and Oklahoma Railroad, the Frisco removed the second story and extended the length of the depot to by about 40 feet to a total length of 87 feet. The September 1918 ICC Valuation Report for the Bentonville depot stated " Original Building built 1901, remodeled 1918, used old foundation and brick from the old walls,P3 [sic] in original end wall." A local museum has an excellent photograph of the depot before the current stucco covering was applied. The picture of the A&O depot and the later museum depot photograph are identical in both stone types and decorative elements. It is proof of the depot's 1900 origins. My impression is that stucco was a preference of a Frisco President in the mid 1920s. The depot at Fayetteville, AR was rebuilt in 1924-1925, and it too has a stucco exterior in its Spanish Southwest style. My guess is that it was stuccoed in the mid 1920s, perhaps at the same time the depot was cut back to its current length. The attached picture of the A&O depot is from an unknown newspaper and the quality is moderate.
Tom, I suspected you would have some good information. I think I will drop in there and nose around some. I need to find someone who worked on the remodeling, see what clues they might have found about the Frisco's reconstruction. I am guessing Shiloh has the picture? I did not see it the only time I went through their stuff, but photographs were not catalogued at the time. Sure wish there were more photographs from that time period. I guess we did not have enough floods up here on the Ozark Plateau to get the photographers out like they did on the River Division.
Yes, the photograph is from the Shiloh Museum of Ozark History. https://shilohmuseum.org/ The contact is Marie Demoroukas, Photograph Archivist, (479) 750-8165.
