Sanford, MI: 1870 Museum/Pere Marquette Depot

Original: (Satellite, someplace between the trail and Saginaw Road.)

Current: (Satellite)

Edd Wilder posted two photos with the comment:

Today’s featured depot is the Pere Marquette Station in Sanford 🚂

In 1870, the Flint and Pere Marquette Railroad reached Sanford and built a depot there. The Pere Marquette line would later be operated by the C&O and CSX. The front of the depot had an office for the station master and a waiting room, and the back was used for shipping and receiving. The depot served the town until 1947.

The depot was later acquired by private individuals and moved. It sat in its new location at US 10 and West River Road in a state of disrepair for years, until Steve Hyer donated the depot to the Sanford Historical Society in 1984. The building was moved to the grounds of the Sanford Centennial Museum that same year. Over the following years the depot was restored, the roof repaired, and the floor rebuilt.

Nowadays, the depot is a hub for many of the Sanford Centennial Museum’s activities and events.

[Please use the link to access the post to see the citations.]

1
[It is unusual for a depot to be so far from the tracks.]

2

Street View, Jul 2023

I could not find rectangles that agreed with the historic photo. Given the car in the right background of the photo, I think the depot was on the north side of the tracks.

May 20, 1954 @ 23,600; AR1VDI000100080