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Satellite)
Once again a depot is the trailhead for a trail on the right-of-way of an abandoned railroad.
The depot is on the right in this view of the grain elevator.
Durand Union Station-Michigan Railroad History Museum posted three photos with the comment:
Today’s featured depot is the Grand Trunk station in St. Johns 🚂
Saint Johns was founded by a man named John Sweegles. He had insider knowledge on the route the Detroit & Milwaukee Railroad (D&M) would take as it laid its tracks across the state. Sweegles knew the railroad would drive the economy, boost sales, and bring people to the area - all of which would benefit his business ventures. Sweegles organized a land company and together they worked to find a suitable plot of land to buy. In 1853, Sweegles purchased 80 acres of land in the path of a future D&M line and settled what is now present day Saint Johns.
By 1857 the railroad was fully operational in Saint Johns. A depot was built around this time as well. In 1882, The Grand Trunk Railway acquired the D&M, and the Grand Trunk built a new depot in Saint Johns, we believe, at the end of the 1910s.
In March of 1920, a tornado came through Saint Johns and demolished the depot - as well as much of the town. Grand Trunk wasted no time and quickly rebuilt the depot.
In 1987, the rail line from Ionia to Owosso was abandoned by the railroads, and the last train passed through Saint Johns on July 31, 1992. The rails were removed in 1998 and later became part of the Fred Meijer Clinton-Ionia-Shiawassee Trail.
The City of Saint Johns purchased the depot in 1998 and the depot was restored in 2001-2002 with the help of a $325,000 state grant.
The depot officially reopened in 2003 and is still a staple of the community to this day. It houses a depot museum and is also an event venue.
Citations:
"St. Johns Badly Wind Wrecked". The State Journal [Lansing]. 29 March 1920. P.1.
Newspapers.com.
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| 1965/67 St Johns North Quad @ 24,000 |
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