By Associated Press
Anniston, AL – A fire has destroyed a train depot in Anniston listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
Anniston fire Capt. Chris Collins said firefighters received the call at 3 a.m. Sunday and arrived to find fire shooting through the roof from the largest part of the L&N train depot, which is more than a century old.
Collins said the building is a complete loss. The fire's cause was undetermined Monday.
The fire had been burning for some time before the call came in. Firefighters battled the fire through the early morning hours and did not leave the scene until 11 a.m.
Jim and Ann Stephenson bought the passenger depot building in 1995 from architect Julian Jenkins, planning to open a restaurant, according to Anniston Star archives. Jenkins had already restored the freight depot, which was built around 1883, in hopes of spurring downtown revitalization.
A sign on the fence around the passenger depot, which opened as the Union Depot in 1885, said the property was for sale.
The L&N stopped passenger service to Anniston in 1951. Various lumber and hardware businesses then used the passenger depot building with Kelly Supply being the last.