Ashville Depot

The Ashville Depot is a small former train station in the village of Ashville in Pickaway County, Ohio, United States. A simple weatherboaded building that was constructed in 1876,^[2] it was once the commercial center of the area.^[3]

Ashville was a railroad town that was founded at the intersection of a railroad line and a leading rural road. As the connecting point between the two modes of transportation, its train station was a central part of the life of the village and of the surrounding Harrison Township. In 1876, the short-lived Scioto Valley Railway erected a new station in Ashville; its construction helped to make the newly-founded village the most important community in northern Pickaway County.^[3]

After a century of use, the depot was closed in 1976. Railroad officials planned its destruction, but local residents formed a historic preservation organization to save it; accordingly, it was relocated and placed on concrete blocks.^[3] The depot was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1980,^[1] qualifying because of its historic architecture and its important place in local history;^[2] among the reasons it qualified was its status as the only extant train station built by the Scioto Valley Railway.^[3] Such a designation is unusual, for buildings that have been moved from their original locations are not normally eligible for inclusion on the National Register.^[4]

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