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| (Photo from David Duke) Click to Enlarge The Brownsville Depot |
A photo of the L&N train depot in Brownsville, Tennessee posted by David Duke in
the Facebook group “You grew up in Brownsville, Tennessee if…” generated many
posts of memories of the old train station and piqued my curiosity about this
piece of Haywood County, Tennessee history.
If you check out the posts by those who shared their
memories, you’ll see it was more than just a building. From family trips to
visit relatives in nearby towns like Milan, Bells, Stanton and Memphis to
experiencing a train ride with a Cub Scout pack or school group or just
gathering with friends and family to watch the train come into the station, the
depot made a real impact on many who can still remember hearing the whistle
blow in person.
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| (Photo by H. E. Clement) Click to Enlarge Hand-tinted art by H.E. Clement from postcard of the Brownsville depot |
I discovered the depot has an interesting history.
By 1855, the first twenty-five miles of the Memphis and Ohio
Railroad (M&O) had been completed. However, according to Maury Klein in
“History of the Louisville & Nashville Railroad,” deciding the location of
the tracks was not an easy task.
“Ironically, the Memphis & Ohio faced a rather unique problem for its day: the indifference and outright hostility of citizens living along the route. Standing aloof from the commercial aspirations of the terminal cities, they saw no advantage for themselves in the coming Iron Horse. In 1856 the picture brightened considerably. After another long debate the Memphis & Ohio board decided to locate the road directly to Paris (Tennessee) via Brownsville.” Page 20
The tracks, which would eventually connect Memphis to
Louisville, made it to Brownsville in late 1856. Eventually, the Louisville
& Nashville Railroad (L&N), which had begun in 1850 in Kentucky as a
way of allowing Louisville to become more competitive with Cincinnati, absorbed
the M&O.
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| (Photo by H.E. Clement) Click to Enlarge Hand-tinted art by H.E. Clement from postcard of the Brownsville depot |
During the Civil War, both the Union and the Confederacy
used the L&N to transport soldiers and provisions. Eventually, the Union
Army operated all the key sections of the L&N which contributed to their
ultimate victory.
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| (Photo from Pope's Manual of Railroads of the United States) Click to Enlarge Southern tracks of the L&N Railroad in 1901 |
According to “Heart of the Tennessee Delta,” (for sale at the West Tennessee Delta Heritage Center) construction did
not begin on the depot in Brownsville until Sept. 1905 and was completed in
five months.
The Brownsville depot remained a hub of activity for more
than six decades as the L&N remained a significant source of transportation
of freight and passenger trains.
Kathy Mattea, "The L&N Don't Stop Here Anymore"
By the late 1960s, an increase in automobile
ownership and affordable airplane travel made the passenger train business much
less profitable. In 1968, the last passenger train pulled out of the depot and that part of Brownsville's history came to a close. The L&N didn't stop there anymore, as the song goes. The old depot, which I assume was in horrible shape, was sold to an individual who had it torn down in 1974.
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| Click to Enlarge Approximate location of The Brownsville Depot |
Although the depot is gone and there is not a single trace
it ever existed, there are a few ways you can go back in time and catch a quick glimpse.
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| Click to Enlarge Screen captures from "The Liberation of L.B. Jones" |
The opening and closing
scenes of "The Liberation of L.B. Jones" were filmed at the depot
shortly before it was torn down. The movie was acclaimed director William
Wyler’s final movie and was based on the best-selling 1965 novel, “The Liberation of Lord Byron Jones.” The novel was inspired by an actual murder that took place outside Humboldt, Tennessee in 1955.
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| Click to Enlarge "All Aboard with Mr. Bee." |
According to a comment on the Facebook post, the children’s
program “All Aboard with Mr. Be” included b-roll of the Brownsville depot in
the opening. The show aired on Memphis’ WKNO Channel 10 in the ‘60s and ‘70s. I
actually remember the show but can’t remember the opening and there are no
clips online.
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| Click to Enlarge Opening scene of "In the Heat of the Night" |
Some also believe the opening scene from the original
"In The Heat Of The Night" starring Rod Steiger and Sydney Potier
were also filmed at the Brownsville depot. The fact that Sydney Potier actually arrives "in the heat of the night" makes it's difficult to tell for sure if this was filmed at the depot, but it certainly could have been.
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| Click to Enlarge Photo of the Brownsville depot on the wall at Hometown Drugs in Brownsville |
As you can read on the Facebook post, the single photo of
the depot created an opportunity for many to share memories and stories of
times with friends, learning opportunities with Cub Scout and school groups, departing
for vacations to other cities and times spent with family who have long passed
away.
Just imagine if it had been possible to restore the depot or move it to
another location where it could be a part of the community today. I hope we can work together to find ways to make sure other historic sites like this one are preserved for
future generations.
For more blog entries, visit my Blog Home Page or to check out the genealogy research about my specific family lines, go to my Haywood County Line Genealogy Website.
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