Preserving Our History – the Port Orange Depot

By Cathy Padilla

Built 130 years ago and located in Depot Park, the oldest surviving Florida East Coast Railway (FEC) Station is tucked away on Herbert Street in Port Orange. On March 16 and 17, three local companies are donating their services to paint the Depot after it has endured 30 years of wear and tear since its last update. This is just the beginning of a project called the Port Orange Railway Experience that is a joint venture between the city of Port Orange and the Port Orange Railway Society (PORS), a local non-profit.

“Later this year, we are bringing the 806 Caboose to Depot Park,” said Larry Powers, President of the PORS. “The 806 is the only existing FEC metal caboose. We are also raising money to purchase and restore a small steam locomotive. Our group is working with the city to restore the Depot. Our long-term goals are to preserve our railroading history and attract tourist dollars to the city.”

Placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1998, the city bought the depot and surrounding land in 2015. A few years later, in 2019, Powers started the PORS and has since worked with the city to preserve the rich railroad history of this area.

“People don’t realize that Florida was a frontier area before the railroad with fewer than 100 people living in Daytona,” said Powers. “The railroad built this state and led to the tourist boom. The railroad was here before the first road from Port Orange to Daytona Beach was built in 1904.”           

The Port Orange Railway Experience will incorporate five stages with the first being the total restoration of the Depot turning it into a museum, gift shop, and snack bar. That will be followed by bringing in and restoring the 806 Caboose and then an original Steam Engine. The final two stages incorporate the restoration of the Steam Engine into what Powers calls East Coast Steam Academy classes that will offer hands-on work and education. The immediate need of the non-profit is nearly $25,000 more to purchase the Steam Engine and the approval of a city bond issue that will provide the needed funding for the depot infrastructure and park restoration.

Railroad History Provided by Larry Powers

In 1886, the St. Johns and Halifax Railway (StJ&H) was expanded from the St. Johns River to Daytona. This was a narrow, three-foot, gauge railway. Henry Flagler took control of the Railway and in 1892, extended the line to Port Orange as part of the southern expansion to Miami. Flagler adopted standard gauge track. The first station was a portable depot on wheels. There are no existing pictures of this depot. It was probably a modified railway post office car or caboose. This depot was later re-used further south during the construction of the railroad.

What we affectionately call “Our Little Depot” was built in 1894. It is the oldest surviving Florida East Coast Railway (FEC) Depot. It would later become FEC building #245. It was located south of  Dunlawton Avenue and east of the tracks. A separate freight house was built in the same year. It was located just north of Herbert Street and east of the tracks. The freight house was designated FEC building # 246. In 1911, the freight house was moved just south of the original passenger depot.

Passenger service reached its peak in 1926 with the completion of the dual track on the main line and the block signal system. Increased competition, hurricane damage and the Great Depression all caused service to decline. The FEC went into bankruptcy in 1931. A year later regular passenger service to Port Orange ended and it became a flag stop. In 1938, the two buildings were modified into a freight only depot. The combined structure was designated building #245.

It would take thirty years for the FEC to emerge from bankruptcy. In 1963, the longest strike in railroad history began. All passenger service on the FEC was stopped. Seventy years of service on the railroad ended in 1964. Today the Depot starts a new chapter as part of the Port Orange Railway Experience.