The photo below shows the Fort Branch Train Depot, built in 1884. There is a double track in front and freight siding on back. The picture was taken prior to 1896. The first ‘depot’, called Strain’s Station, was located in Thomas Strain’s store back when Fort Branch was called LaGrange. Mr. Strain suggested the name Fort Branch, and the Post Office Department sanctioned the name.
Later, the depot was moved a few blocks north into a ‘little gray building’ and remained there until 1885, when a large brick depot (below) was said to have been the finest depot between Evansville and Terre Haute. This building was replaced in 1951 by a smaller building, which was subsequently razed in 1967.
*Information from “The Fort on a Branch” by John V. DeLong, Jr., 1974.
*Photo from Fort Branch-Johnson Township Public Library’s local history collection.
