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Photograph of Athens station
Photograph by Ed! (Hall of Fame), CC BY-SA 3.0. Via Wikimedia Commons.

Athens B & O Train Depot

Listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1983. A historic map-sheet match is not published yet. The record needs a coordinate-quality review before it can be joined to a sheet boundary.

From the record

“Athens station is a former train station in Athens, Ohio, adjacent to the campus of Ohio University. It served the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad from around 1890 until 1971, then Amtrak from 1976 to 1981.”

Wikipedia article Athens station (Ohio), CC BY-SA 4.0.

one of 19 National Register listings in Athens County · listed in 1983 · category: Building · one of 1 National Historic Landmarks in Athens County.

Sources: the Wikipedia article · the case file at the National Archives · the National Register database, National Park Service

The listing

  • What is counted as historic. The nomination lists 1 building as contributing to the listing.
  • Address. Depot St., Athens, 45701
  • When was it listed? 1983-01-11
  • Category. building
  • Township. Athens township
  • Architectural style. Stick style
  • National Register reference number. 83001944 - the number the National Park Service assigned this property when it was listed, and the key its nomination file is catalogued under at the National Archives.

What happened here

An account from the chapter on Athens township, The inset identifies its exact source book and publication year.

From History of Athens County, Ohio : and, Incidentally, of the Ohio Land Company and the First Settlement of the State at Marietta, with Personal and Biographical Sketches of the Early Settlers, Narratives of Pioneer Adventures, Etc., published 1869 - Athens Township

Utr Run

fired at and wounded the old bear, and then, wishing to see his dog kill one of the cubs, laid down his gun and. hissed his dog on to attack the cub - the old bear and other cub beating a retreat. Boyles, becoming interested in the fight between his dog and the cub, had approached near them, when he was disagreeably startled by seeing the old bear return, brought by the cries of the cub, and place herself between him and his gun.

Read the rest of this passage

The ground it stands on

329,501 words

The chapter on Athens Township in History of Athens County, Ohio : and, Incidentally, of the Ohio Land Company and the First Settlement of the State at Marietta, with Personal and Biographical Sketches of the Early Settlers, Narratives of Pioneer Adventures, Etc., published 1869 names Athens. This is what it says, exactly as the scans read.

Athens county - a county which, one of the earliest organized in Ohio, contains, perhaps, a greater number of surviving pioneers than any other in the state except Washington. The desire, on the part of these pioneers, to see preserved in a somewhat connected form the annals of the first settlement of the county and of their own labors and struggles in founding society here, is not an unnatural one. '^Near is thy forgetfulness of all things," said Marcus Aurelius, in one of his aphorisms, ^' and near the forgetfulness of thee by all." With something of this feeling,^ it is, perhaps, that the old always dwell with such keen pleasure on the events and associations of their early life. Conscious of approaching change and of waning strength, they love period when the eye was bright, the brain active, and the step elastic. There is, also, a feeling among men that the record of a well-spent and useful life, even if humble, deserves to be remembered. They derive a pardonable pleasure from the thought that posterity will not wholly ignore nor forget them.

Passage source: History of Athens County, Ohio : and, Incidentally, of the Ohio Land Company and the First Settlement of the State at Marietta, with Personal and Biographical Sketches of the Early Settlers, Narratives of Pioneer Adventures, Etc., published 1869.

It is in recognition of this feeling that these pages have been written. To preserve some account of the lives and labors of the early settlers, who bore so honorable a part in converting a wilderness into a great commonwealth, and to rescue from total oblivion some matters that seem worthy of being narrated, is the modest object of this sketch concerning the history of Athens county.

Passage source: History of Athens County, Ohio : and, Incidentally, of the Ohio Land Company and the First Settlement of the State at Marietta, with Personal and Biographical Sketches of the Early Settlers, Narratives of Pioneer Adventures, Etc., published 1869.

Machine-read from a century-old scan, so expect the errors a machine makes: misspelled names, dropped words, stray characters.

Read the whole chapter on Athens Township - 329,501 words on its settlement, mills, schools and churches.

Fires near this property

28 since 2006

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 28 fires within 5 miles of Athens B & O Train Depot between 2006 and 2020, burning about 39 acres in total. 1 started naturally. None was recorded as arson. Distance is straight-line from the map coordinates, so a fire counted here may appear on a neighbouring settlement's page as well.

Reported cause Fires
Missing data/not specified/undetermined13
Debris and open burning9
Power generation/transmission/distribution3
Equipment and vehicle use2
Natural1

The most recent of them, most recent first, with the day each was reported and the service that recorded it.

DateCause SizeReported by Name on the report
23 September 2019Debris and open burningunder an acreWayne National ForestBEAN HOLLOW
23 September 2019Debris and open burningunder an acreWayne National ForestRAW FIRE
2 June 2020Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreWayne National ForestNORTH PEACH
12 June 2017Equipment and vehicle useunder an acreWayne National ForestMILL CREEK FIRE
8 April 2013Missing data/not specified/undetermined5.0 acresOhio Department of Natural Resourcesnot named
8 April 2013Missing data/not specified/undetermined5.7 acresOhio Department of Natural Resourcesnot named
8 April 2013Missing data/not specified/undetermined5.0 acresOhio Department of Natural Resourcesnot named
25 April 2006Debris and open burning1.0 acresWayne National ForestTHREE FIRE

Every fire recorded in Athens County

Specimens collected near this property

12 of 1,290 shown

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. Museums hold 1,290 specimens collected within 10 miles of Athens B & O Train Depot between 1896 and 1975: 1,082 Animalia, 151 Plantae, 47 Fungi, 4 Unrecorded, 4 Protozoa, 1 Chromista, 1 Bacteria. 12 distinct Species records are shown. Collected by A. D. Selby, A. H. Blickle, Auburn E. Brower and others. Each is a physical object with a catalogue number, and each entry opens the museum's record. This is what was collected and kept, not a survey of what lives here - nothing can be concluded from a species being absent.

Image SpeciesYear Collected by Where, as recorded
Specimen of Albugo candida (Pers. ex J.F.Gmel.) RousselAlbugo candida (Pers. ex J.F.Gmel.) Roussel1896F.L. Stevens
Specimen of Puccinia flosculosorum Röhl., 1813Puccinia flosculosorum Röhl., 18131896F. L. StevensAthens County
Specimen of Ambrosia bidentata Michx.Ambrosia bidentata Michx.1969William G. Gambill Jr.
A photograph of the species Tridens flavus, not of this specimenTridens flavus (L.) Hitchc.1896Selby, A.D.Caananville
A photograph of the species Aristida longespica, not of this specimenAristida longespica var. longespica1898Selby, A.D.Pleasanton
A photograph of the species Perlesta Banks, not of this specimenPerlesta Banks, 19061898N. Roberts
A photograph of the species Quercus minor, not of this specimenQuercus minor (Marshall) Sarg.1898Selby, A.D.Pleasanton
A photograph of the species Diospyros virginiana, not of this specimenDiospyros virginiana L.1899A. D. SelbyMarshfield
A photograph of the species Salix humilis, not of this specimenSalix humilis var. tristis (Aiton) Griggs1899Selby, A.D.Marshfield
A photograph of the species Tephrosia virginiana, not of this specimenTephrosia virginiana (L.) Pers.1899Selby, A.D.Marshfield
A photograph of the species Elaphe obsoleta, not of this specimenElaphe obsoleta obsoleta1902Morse, M. (Max)Nelsonville, Athens Co., Ohio
Melasmia Lév., 18461902Kellerman, W.A.Athens

All 1,290 specimens within 10 miles, at the Global Biodiversity Information Facility.

Storms near this property

60 of 71 shown

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Athens, the town this property stands in, in 71 storm reports between 1994 and 2025: 41 thunderstorm wind, 21 hail, 3 flash flood, 2 lightning. The reports record 8 injuries. Each account below is quoted exactly as the forecast office filed it, from the NOAA Storm Events Database, and each date opens the federal record of that event.

WhenEvent Place namedHarm What the report says
August 2000High WindAthens8 hurt, $20,000Thunderstorm wind gusts of 40 to 50 mph caused tree damage and collapsed a county fair tent. The tent collapsed during the swine judging, with as many as 400 people inside. Many of those caught in the tent, appeared stunned, but calm. Eight people received minor injuries. No animals were hurt. One witness said., " It was the best example I've seen of everyone working together." The nearby anemometer at the Scalia Lab on the Ohio University campus reported a wind gust of 41 mph. In a related incident, an indirect death occurred while a 74 old man lost control of his tractor and it overturned. He was trying to take shelter from the midday storm. He was 60 feet from his residence on Hooper Ridge Road, near Amesville.
June 2002Thunderstorm WindAthens$200,000Numerous large trees and branches were blown down in the city. The Emergency Management Agency reported 2 houses were severely damaged by fallen trees. Trees also fell across roads, sidewalks, driveways, and yards. Electrical power was lost.
June 2012Thunderstorm WindAthens$150,000A gust to 64 mph was measured. The Ohio University campus lost 25 trees to the wind. The trees damaged a baseball field fence and crushed one truck.
April 2015Thunderstorm WindAthens$25,000Trees were blown down along Radford Road and in the University Heights Drive vicinity.
March 2011HailAthens$25,000Large hail dented a few vehicles.
May 2011Thunderstorm WindAthens$20,000Trees or large branches fell onto power lines.
August 2023Tornado (EF1)Athens$10,000An EF1 tornado with maximum winds up to 100 mph touched down near Angel Ridge Road in Athens County. The tornado tracked east-northeast crossing Gura Road, Long Run Road, and North Coolville Ridge Road before lifting just past Kincade Road. Damage was limited to snapped and uprooted trees and some snapped power poles along the path, with the worst damage occurring in a 300 yard wide swath along Long Run Road. This is the seventh documented tornado in Athens County and the first since 2018.
April 2019Thunderstorm WindAthens$10,000Multiple large limbs and a pine tree were snapped on the Ohio University campus. The outfield fence at the softball field was also blown down.
February 2011Thunderstorm WindAthens$10,000Trees fell onto power llines, knocking out the electricity.
April 2002HailAthens$10,000Winds also gusted to 42 mph at Ohio University.
July 2005Thunderstorm WindAthens$10,000no account filed
June 1996Thunderstorm WindAthens$10,000no account filed
April 1996Thunderstorm WindAthens$10,000no account filed
April 2025Thunderstorm WindAthens$8,000Numerous downed trees and power outages were observed in and south of Athens.
June 2021Thunderstorm WindAthens$8,000Multiple trees were blown down in the Athens township.
June 2015Thunderstorm WindAthens$5,000Trees were blown down.
May 2012LightningAthens$5,000A feed store was struck.
March 2011Thunderstorm WindAthens$5,000Several trees were blown down.
February 2009Thunderstorm WindAthens$5,000Trees were blown onto power lines.
June 1998Thunderstorm WindAthens$5,000Several big trees were knocked down in town.
June 1994Thunderstorm WindAthens$5,000Trees were downed.
August 1994Thunderstorm WindAthens$5,000Trees and large limbs were downed in town and on the Ohio University Campus.
August 1996Thunderstorm WindAthens$5,000no account filed
July 1995Thunderstorm WindAthens$5,000no account filed
April 1995HailAthens$5,000no account filed
August 2020Thunderstorm WindAthens$4,000Several trees were downed in the southwest portion of the Athens Township, some blocking roadways.
November 2020Thunderstorm WindAthens$4,000Numerous trees were downed throughout the city of Athens. The Athens County airport reported a wind gust of 58 miles per hour around the time these trees were downed.
April 2015LightningAthens$4,000Lightning struck a dwelling. The house filled with smoke.
August 2021Flash FloodAthens$3,000High water flowed across Terrel Road to the southeast of the city of Athens.
July 2022Thunderstorm WindAthens$2,000Multiple trees and power lines were blown down and damaged in and around Athens.
July 2017Thunderstorm WindAthens$2,000Numerous trees were blown down by thunderstorm winds in the city of Athens.
November 2013Thunderstorm WindAthens$2,000Trees were blown down along Pleasant Hill Road.
November 2013Thunderstorm WindAthens$2,000Trees were blown down along Rich Lane.
July 2011Thunderstorm WindAthens$2,000A few branches were blown down.
October 2010Thunderstorm WindAthens$2,000Trees and large branches were blown down.
July 2005Thunderstorm WindAthens$2,000Trees and power lines were knocked down along Salem Road or County Route 9.
May 2001Thunderstorm WindAthens$2,000Several large branches and a few trees were blown down.
September 2000Thunderstorm WindAthens$2,000Trees fell across roads.
May 2004Flash FloodAthens$2,000no account filed
August 1998Thunderstorm WindAthens$2,000no account filed
February 2022FloodAthens$1,000The Hocking River at Athens rose out of its 20 foot flood stage late in the afternoon on February 19th. The river remained above its flood stage for only a brief period of time and was back in its banks that evening. Low lying areas around the river and the nearby campground observed minor flooding between Athens and Coolville while the Hocking River was out of its banks.
June 2022Thunderstorm WindAthens$1,000Multiple trees were downed in the city of Athens.
March 2004Thunderstorm WindAthens$1,000Power lines were knocked down by fallen trees and large branches.
May 2002Thunderstorm WindAthens$1,000Trees and large branches were blown down
November 2002Thunderstorm WindAthens$1,000Several trees were blown down.
April 2025Thunderstorm WindAthens$250Outside of the Athens township, a tree was blown down on South Blackburn Road.
April 2025FloodAthens-The Hocking River at Athens exceeded its flood stage of 20 feet early in the morning of April 5th, then continued to rise to a crest of around 20.8 feet the next morning. The river slowly fell back below flood stage early in the morning on the 7th. Low areas, the campground, and private camps along the river between Athens and Coolville began to flood during the time the river was out of its banks. Low sections of Harmony Road and baseball fields in Nelsonville also flooded.
July 2025Flash FloodAthens-Flooding was observed on Strouds Road, State Route 690, and State Route 550 between State Routes 690 and 329. A van was stranded in flood water at Sand Rock Road in Amesville. Another vehicle became stranded on State Route 690.
June 2007Thunderstorm WindAthens-Trees fell down from the Route 690 vicinity, on east, to Route 329 near Stewart.
August 2007Thunderstorm WindAthens-Numerous trees or large branches fell along Route 56.
July 2007Thunderstorm WindAthens-Large branches were blown down along portions of County Routes 24 and 90.
June 2005Thunderstorm WindAthens-A gust to 62 mph was measured at Ohio University.
June 1995Thunderstorm WindAthens-Trees were blown down along Route 50 and Alexander Township Road 30.
May 2025HailAthens-no account filed
March 2022HailAthens-no account filed
May 2019HailAthens-no account filed
July 2019HailAthens-no account filed
April 2018HailAthens-no account filed
April 2015HailAthens-no account filed
March 2012HailAthens-no account filed

Every storm recorded in Athens County

Map coverage status

No historic map-sheet match is published for this property yet. That does not mean no map exists. This record needs a coordinate-quality review before it can be joined to a sheet boundary. Browse the county's mapped places while that work is pending.

From the nomination file

1,628 words on record

When this property was proposed for the National Register, someone wrote the case for it: what the building is, and why it matters. That document is a federal record in the public domain. It is quoted below word for word, never summarised. The text was read off the scanned case file by machine, so the occasional stray character is the recogniser's and the 1970s typewriter's.

Description of the property

The ATHENS B & 0 TRAIN DEPOT is located next to the railroad tracks on the southwest corner of Depot and Union Streets in the City of Athens, Athens County, in the state of Ohio. The DEPOT was built circa 1890 as the main passenger train depot serving the City Situated near the DEPOT are various other remnants of Athens' past, including such historic road and the location of the DEPOT stimulated the growth of the mixed residential/commercial/ industrial area which now surrounds it. The structure itself is a one-story rectangular building 128.5 feet long and 25.5 feet deep, built in the stick style design of that period. The DEPOT lays parallel to the rail- road tracks and contains a total of 3,076 square feet of floor space and foundation area.

The front side is the north side of the building, and the rear side is the south side of the building and faces the railroad tracks. The exterior of the structure is considered to have a has seven 2/2 wood framed windows, two double wooden doors, and one garage type door. The and downspouts, a stone block foundation, vertical and horizontal tongue and groove wood siding, exposed underhang area. east of the waiting room, two offices exclusive of the ticketing room, and an office addition two suspended fluorescent light fixtures, ornamental decorative wood ceiling and walls, and radiator, old linoleum over a wood floor, fluorescent light fixtures, conduit wiring, and The original DEPOT was altered circa 1915.

A circular gable roof existed in the center Circa 1915 the circular tower section was removed and both ends of the building were enclosed 7. Description Condition unexposed ruins wood walls and ceiling. suspended incandescent lighting at various points on the exterior of the building, and an Check one .

Read the complete 1,628-word case file.

Statement of significance

(in one paragraph) catalyst to the industrial, economic, and residential development of the City of Athens. of its economic activity, and on access to transportation routes to stimulate industrial With the destruction of the canal by a flood more than 100 years ago, the railroad the importance of this mode of transportation in the inflow and outflow of coal and other natural resources, and manufactured goods. The stick type architecture of the depot remains as the best example of this building style in the city. Industry and businesses dependent upon the railroad for transport of raw materials and manufactured goods sprang up in the late 1800's and early 1900's near the Depot.

fur processing company, planing mill, foundry and machine company, and housing for workers Transportation was the catalyst to the development and growth of the City of Athens. Because the Athens B & 0 Train Depot is the only remaining tribute to the importance of transportation in the late 1800's, it is worthy of preservation. 1600-1699 8. Significance 1500-1599 1700-1799 commerce 1890 communications 1400-1499 economics engineering invention industry education archeology-historic conservation philosophy Period science humanitarian theater architecture exploration/settlement art prehistoric literature music agriculture Specific dates law 1900- military the railroad emerging as the tranpsortation hub of the City of Athens.

landscape architecture _ - religion -politics/government X transportation The Athens B & 0 Train Depot represents the importance of transportation as a gained importance as an impetus to economic and industrial development in the City of Athens. By 1890, Athens was connected by rail to nearby Marietta and Chillicothe, with connections to Columbus. The Depot was built circa 1890 to accommodate the daily passenger the need for the Railroad Hotel, which located close to the depot also.

Read the complete 1,628-word case file.

The whole case file for this property - 1,628 words, 11 pages, reproduced complete.

Quoted from the National Register nomination for reference 83001944, 11 pages, held by the National Archives in Record Group 79. See the catalogue record.

Listed places nearby

6 within 8 miles

Other National Register properties close enough to walk or drive between, ordered by distance from this one. Both positions come from the same geocoding pass that matched these properties to their map sheets.

Photograph PropertyDistance Listed
Beasley Buildingunder 500 feet1982
Stedman-Shafer Grocery Warehouse Building0.3 miles2020
Mount Zion Baptist Church0.3 miles1980
Herrold, Thomas Jefferson, House and Store0.3 miles1980
Manasseh Cutler Hall, Ohio University0.4 miles1966
Sheltering Arms Hospital0.6 miles1982

Sources for this property

National Archives recordThe nomination case file for reference 83001944 in Record Group 79.
Wikipedia articleCommunity-written account of this property, licensed CC BY-SA.
Athens CountyAll 19 listed properties in this county.

Provenance

  • Listing record. National Park Service National Register of Historic Places, listed-properties dataset, current to 2026-05-22.
  • Map join. Address geocoded through the United States Census geocoder, then tested against the published boundary of every sheet in the USGS Historical Topographic Map Collection.
  • How this page is made. Listing fields come from federal records; map-sheet coverage is a labelled coordinate-to-boundary calculation, not a source-field claim.
  • Wildfire. Short, Karen C. 2022. Spatial wildfire occurrence data for the United States, 1992-2020 [FPA_FOD_20221014]. 6th Edition. Fort Collins, CO: Forest Service Research Data Archive. https://doi.org/10.2737/RDS-2013-0009.6 Collected with United States Government funding and usable without additional permissions or fees.
  • Specimens. Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF), https://www.gbif.org/. Only records licensed CC0 or CC BY are used. Records licensed CC BY-NC are excluded because this site carries advertising. Images are checked individually and any whose licence is non-commercial, no-derivatives or unreadable is refused.
  • Storms. NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/stormevents/ A work of the United States government, no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105. Narratives are quoted verbatim from the National Weather Service report and are not edited or summarised.