Toledo and Ohio Central Depot

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The Toledo & Ohio Central Depot

700 E. Rensselaer St.

DESCRIPTION AND PRESENT PHYSICAL APPEARANCE

Situated on property owned by the Bucyrus Preservation Society, the former Toledo & Ohio Central Depot is a one and a half story building of brick finish with rock-faced ashlar foundation and trim. The structure is one hundred feet long by thirty feet wide with a cross gable hip roof. Across the east and west facades are double-hung windows with stained glass transoms and stone lintels and sills. Both facades feature projecting decorated stone pavilions with gable roofs over large ticket windows. The ticket windows are handsomely built with radiating voussoir heads and stained glass transoms. A window framed in decorative stone under a gable end dormer highlights the south façade. On the southeast corner of the building is a round tower with a conical roof topped by a stone finial. The tower has four windows and a door on the ground floor, each including a stained glass transom. In the upper portion of the tower are narrow, louvered windows, above these windows is an ornately carved stone band just below the roof line.

HISTORICAL SIGNIFICANCE

The Toledo & Ohio Central Depot, built c.1880, is significant for its historic association with the development of the railroad transportation system through Bucyrus. The route from Bucyrus to Toledo, a project sponsored by Bucyrus people, was part of the Atlantic & Lake Erie Line. The Atlantic & Erie Line was incorporated in 1865 to start at Pomeroy, run through the coalfields of Athens and Perry counties, then continue through Bucyrus and Toledo. In the summer of 1880 the first train stopped in Bucyrus and eventually the Bucyrus to Toledo portion of the line became known as the Toledo & Ohio Central. The Toledo & Ohio Central railroad shops, which provided jobs and income to the community, were located in Bucyrus until railroad use declined in the 1940's when they were closed. The depot is one of the last remaining examples of railroad architecture built during the peak of the railroad era in Bucyrus. Built in the High Victorian Gothic style, the depot is highlighted by a rock-faced course ashlar tower with a conical roof topped by a finial, ornate stone gabled projecting pavilions, dormer window and stained glass transom windows. The depot was vacant for several years after the Toledo & Ohio Central line was consolidated into larger railroad companies. During the 1960's the structure was used for storage purposes by The Telegraph-Forum newspaper. In 1971, Richard Hord bought the depot from the newspaper and operated his heating and plumbing business there. In 1998 the Bucyrus Historical Society received the deed to the property. When the Bucyrus Preservation Society was formed it was given the deed to T&OC Depot. The BPS intends to restore the structure and operate it as an industrial museum and civic center.

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700 East Rensselaer Street Bucyrus, Ohio 44820