Depot

June 18, 2010 Updated Jun 7, 2007 at 11:50 AM EDT

Every day we lose more and more of our past, so we thought we'd tell you about some people who'd like to change that.

Transportation built New Haven, Indiana.

The Wabash - Erie Canal cut right through the heart of town in the 1830's.

Twenty years later, the railroad pushed through.

Railroading in New Haven today means big diesel electric locomotives shifting tons of freight...not like a century ago, when trains in New Haven ferried passengers to and fro.

There is one lowly survivor of that fabulous era in fact, still around to tell the story.

Alison Adams, with the New Haven Area Heritage Association says, "This was built in the 1890's. It's really very complete inside. This was the freight room and you could bring freight in from one side and take it straight out onto what would have been the platform."

This is the New Haven Train Depot, and from the 1890's well into the 1940's, this is where the good people of town would board coal fired steam locomotives bound for the far corners of the continent, or just the next stop down the line.

From here, they sent their sons off to two world wars and several minor ones.

This little building has borne witness to great joy and overwhelming sorrow...and despite its peeling paint and sagging floor, there are people who think its story is worth preserving.

Adams says, "This would have been where they stored peoples suitcases and personal baggage and things like that."

Alison Adams is part of a not-for-profit group called New Haven Area Heritage Association heading the effort to rescue this historic structure.

Contrary to its appearance, the depot is in very good shape.

It is complete right down to the pot-bellied stove that kept passengers toasty on cold winter days.

The group Adams represents has gotten the depot listed on the national registry and they've raised enough money to begin restoration.

The building sits precisely where the River Greenway trail from Fort Wayne will end once its completed, and backers of this project say the depot would fit very nicely into a transportation theme park setting.

Adams says, "The river itself, and the trail will come in along the river. We have the canal, very significant remains that can be enhanced and made more viable. In fact, the canal ran right through Moser Park to our north here. I think we just have enormous possibilities."

Whatever its final use, the hope is this little building will again serve the people of New Haven as it did a century ago...when their ancestors passed through its doors on their way to new places and new adventures, and then back home again.