Central of Georgia Railroad: Savannah Shops and Terminal Facilities

Railroad facilities in Savannah, Georgia, include a brick passenger depot headhouse and a long timber-and-iron trainshed built for the Central of Georgia Railroad. The company, organized in 1833, outgrew its original facilities and planned an integrated complex of passenger and freight depots and shops for building and repairing locomotives and cars. Work on the two-story, nine-bay headhouse began in 1860, stalled during the Civil War, and resumed in 1874, with the building opening in 1876. The trainshed, finished in 1861, was designed by Augustus Schwaab, a German immigrant engineer. Its 26 trusses span 70 feet and combine wood, wrought iron and cast iron, joined by an unusual radial connection more typical of French and German practice. The complex is considered among the earliest comprehensive railroad terminal and shop campuses in the country, and the trainshed is the oldest surviving example of early iron roof construction. The depot was later renovated and houses a chamber of commerce.