{"nrhp_refnum":"78001009","name":"Western and Atlantic Depot","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"Depot St., W end of King St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Dalton","county":"Whitfield County","state":"GA","lat":34.77222138800005,"lon":-84.96744146699996,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1978-04-06","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Community Planning and Development","Commerce","Transportation","Exploration/Settlement","Architecture"],"significance_levels":["state"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A one-story brick railroad depot at Depot Street, west end of King Street, in Dalton, Whitfield County, Georgia, built in 1852 as a combination freight and passenger station on the Western and Atlantic line.","why_significant":"The nomination calls it the oldest standing commercial structure in Dalton and the only remnant of the town's original center, tied to the town's founding as a trade center on the railroad. It is also described as a fine mid-nineteenth-century depot, one of few left in Georgia, and it figures in the 1862 Locomotive Chase.","narrative":"Built in 1852, this one-story brick depot in Dalton, Georgia, served the Western and Atlantic Railroad as a combination station for freight and passengers. A shallow hipped roof with deep eaves covers the rectangular building, and paired Italianate brackets sit above brick pilasters that divide the walls into bays. Five elliptically arched loading doors face the tracks and the former loading lot, while the south end keeps its passenger entrance and ticket office. The depot is considered the oldest standing commercial structure in Dalton and the only survivor of the town's original center, laid out around the railroad station. It was also part of the 1862 Locomotive Chase, when a young telegraph operator was dropped off in Dalton to wire ahead to Chattanooga. Few antebellum railroad stations remain in the South, and this one keeps much of its original plan. Cracked brickwork, missing brackets and nearby commercial development have raised concern for its future, and local historical society members have proposed reuse as a community center.","period_of_significance":"1852","architect_builder":"Eugene Le Hardy","architectural_style":"Italianate brackets on a mid-nineteenth-century depot","criteria":[],"status_note":"Condition listed as fair, with cracked brickwork and missing or broken brackets; leased to the L. & N. Railroad, which uses part of the passenger section for employee lockers.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:55:40.915231-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_GA/78001009.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/78001009/5758c00a48-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/78001009/5758c00a48-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 4.0","author":"Jud McCranie","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Dalton_Freight_Depot,_Dalton,_GA,_US.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Jud McCranie</a>, <a href=\"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0\" rel=\"license noopener\">CC BY-SA 4.0</a>, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Dalton_Freight_Depot,_Dalton,_GA,_US.jpg"},"district":{"nrhp_refnum":"88001831","name":"Dalton Commercial Historic District","url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/districts/georgia/dalton-commercial-historic-district-88001831/"},"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/93209933","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dalton_station_(Louisville_and_Nashville_Railroad)","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q16903147"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/georgia/whitfield-county/western-and-atlantic-depot-78001009/"}