museum

This beautiful station was built by the Memphis and Charleston Railroad in 1888 as a district headquarters between Memphis and Chattanooga, Tennessee.  The station became part of the Southern Railway System after the merger of the M&C with the Southern I the 1890’s. 

The Southern abandoned Tuscumbia’s 5^th Street Station in 1946.  The Southern Railway had built a new station about a mile north of Tuscumbia to serve the whole Shoals Area.  The depot was given to the City of Tuscumbia to be used as a recreational b building form the youth of Tuscumbia. 

In 2004-2005, the depot was restored to its elegance as a railroad station. Today the building serves has the headquarters for the Tuscumbia Railway Company, Inc. and a museum for Tuscumbia and its history. Visitors can see static displays, pictures with stories from the past, take a guided tour, or may test their ability to operate trains on one of our ten computer train simulators.  

Tuscumbia, ‘America’s First Frontier Railroad Town’, was an important telegraph center.  Demonstrations of the telegraph are available to groups as they divide into separate rooms and communicate with each other through telegraph operators.

The museum will open for the 2010 season beginning March 6.  Regular hours will be 9:00 A.M. to 4:00 P.M., Wednesday through Saturday and Sunday 1:00 P.M. to 4:00 P.M. Special group rates are available for use of the museum and the rides in Spring Park.  Please call 256-389-1357 for more detail and reservations.