Colorado Southern Railroad Depot
a.k.a. Old Missouri Pacific Railroad Depot
N. Ave. G and E. Front St., Crowley, LAThe Colorado Southern Railroad Depot is significant in the areas of architecture and transportation. The depot is architecturally significant as a good representative example of a Mission Revival railroad station. It represents an early 20th-century fashion for building depots in the Mission Revival style, which was prevalent among railroad companies oriented towards the southwest.
In addition, the California Mission style did not see significant flowering in Louisiana until the 1920s. Because the Colorado Southern depot was built in 1907, it stands as an extremely early example of the style for the state and, indeed, for the region.
The depot's significance in the area of transportation rests upon its status as the town's foremost reflection of the railroad, which was an important mode of transportation in the area throughout most of the twentieth century. The depot was built in 1907, the same year as the completion of the Eunice to Crowley railroad as part of the Colorado Southern, New Orleans, and Pacific line. Later in 1907, the line became part of the Frisco Railroad.
The building was designed by C. H. Page, an architect from Austin, Texas. The contractor was W. C. Whitney of Beaumont, and the cost of construction was about $15,000.
The railroad was important for both passenger and freight service. "During heavy rice years, you would have two-engine trains with sometimes 200 cars filled with rice waiting to leave," recalled Dorsey Peckham, a longtime railroad employee. In the 1930s, the building ceased to be used as a passenger depot, and it was leased to American Legion Post No. 15 for $1 per year until 1945. For a number of years, it served as the local American Legion Home. In 1978, the depot was purchased by the present owners, who plan to restore it and use it as a showroom.
Listed in National Register of Historic Places in 1980.
The National Register of Historic Places is the official list of the Nation’s historic places worthy of preservation. Authorized by the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966, the National Park Service’s National Register of Historic Places is part of a national program to coordinate and support public and private efforts to identify, evaluate, and protect America’s historic and archeological resources.