Dade City station is a

railroad station A train station, railway station, railroad station or depot is a railway facility where trains stop to load or unload passengers, freight or both. It generally consists of at least one platform, one track and a station building providing such ...

and historic site located in

Dade City Dade City is a city in and the county seat of Pasco County, Florida, United States. It is located in the Tampa Bay Area. The population was 6,437 at the 2010 census. Dade City is popular with tourists for its antique stores, restaurants, and h ...

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

. The station is located on CSX's S-Line, which runs along the east side of the building. On July 15, 1994, it was added to the

U.S. The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...

History

Built in 1912 by the

Atlantic Coast Line Railroad The Atlantic Coast Line Railroad was a United States Class I railroad formed in 1900, though predecessor railroads had used the ACL brand since 1871. In 1967 it merged with long-time rival Seaboard Air Line Railroad to form the Seaboard Coast L ...

(now

CSX Transportation CSX Transportation , known colloquially as simply CSX, is a Class I freight railroad operating in the Eastern United States and the Canadian provinces of Ontario and Quebec. The railroad operates approximately 21,000 route miles () of track. ...

), it is located on the U.S. 98/

301 __NOTOC__ Year 301 (Roman numerals, CCCI) was a common year starting on Wednesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Postumius and Nepotianus (or, less freque ...

Bypass, across the street from East Meridian Avenue ( SR 52). Until 1957 it served as a station on their High Springs—Lakeland Line from

Trilby A trilby is a narrow-brimmed type of hat. The trilby was once viewed as the rich man's favored hat; it is sometimes called the "brown trilby" in Britain Roetzel, Bernhard (1999). ''Gentleman's Guide to Grooming and Style''. Barnes & Noble. and ...

to Tampa, serving the ACL's ''

Southland Southland may refer to: Places Canada * Dunbar–Southlands, Vancouver, British Columbia New Zealand * Southland Region, a region of New Zealand * Southland County, a former New Zealand county * Southland District, part of the wider Southland Reg ...

'' en route to

Tampa Tampa () is a city on the Gulf Coast of the U.S. state of Florida. The city's borders include the north shore of Tampa Bay and the east shore of Old Tampa Bay. Tampa is the largest city in the Tampa Bay area and the seat of Hillsborough County ...

. In 1971, most passenger service in the United States was transferred to Amtrak, but Dade City still remained without passenger service. Throughout the latter part of the 20th century, Amtrak would move trains off and onto the S-Line. Some of these trains include the ''Silver Meteor'', ''Silver Star'', '' Floridian'', and '' Palmetto''. However, Dade City still remained without service. Finally, in 1990,

Amtrak The National Railroad Passenger Corporation, Trade name, doing business as Amtrak () , is the national Passenger train, passenger railroad company of the United States. It operates inter-city rail service in 46 of the 48 contiguous United Stat ...

brought passenger service back to Dade City by rerouting the ''

Silver Star The Silver Star Medal (SSM) is the United States Armed Forces' third-highest military decoration for valor in combat. The Silver Star Medal is awarded primarily to members of the United States Armed Forces for gallantry in action against an e ...

'' over the S-Line through

Ocala Ocala ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Marion County within the northern region of Florida, United States. As of the 2020 United States Census, the city's population was 63,591, making it the 54th most populated city in Florida. Home to ...

and Wildwood, FL to

Miami Miami ( ), officially the City of Miami, known as "the 305", "The Magic City", and "Gateway to the Americas", is a East Coast of the United States, coastal metropolis and the County seat, county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade C ...

. Amtrak later rerouted the ''Silver Star'' again to the CSX A-Line through

Orlando Orlando () is a city in the U.S. state of Florida and is the county seat of Orange County. In Central Florida, it is the center of the Orlando metropolitan area, which had a population of 2,509,831, according to U.S. Census Bureau figures rele ...

in 1996, and instead revived the '' Silver Palm'' along the S-Line, where it would keep its name, sleepers, and diner until 2002. In 2002, the train would be renamed back to ''Palmetto''.Amtrak Timetable effective April 29, 2002, p. 33 http://timetables.org/full.php?group=20020429n&item=0033 Two years later, the ''Palmetto'' was truncated to

Savannah, Georgia Savannah ( ) is the oldest city in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia and is the county seat of Chatham County, Georgia, Chatham County. Established in 1733 on the Savannah River, the city of Savannah became the Kingdom of Great Br ...

on November 1, 2004, prompting Amtrak to revive ''Silver Star'' service to Tampa along the CSX A-Line shared by the current ''

Silver Meteor The ''Silver Meteor'' is a passenger train operated by Amtrak between New York City and Miami, Florida. Introduced in 1939 as the first diesel-powered streamliner between New York and Florida, it was the flagship train of the Seaboard Air Line ...

'', and part of the suspended ''

Sunset Limited The ''Sunset Limited'' is an Amtrak passenger train that for most of its history has operated between New Orleans and Los Angeles, over the nation's second transcontinental route. However, up until Hurricane Katrina in 2005, it operated betwe ...

'', and ending passenger service to Dade City once again. Today, the station operates as a museum, and Amtrak's

Thruway Motorcoach Amtrak Thruway is a system of through-ticketed transportation services to connect passengers with areas not served by Amtrak trains. In most cases these are dedicated motorcoach routes, but can also be non-dedicated intercity bus services, tran ...

bus service between

Jacksonville Jacksonville is a city located on the Atlantic coast of northeast Florida, the most populous city proper in the state and is the List of United States cities by area, largest city by area in the contiguous United States as of 2020. It is the co ...

and Lakeland still uses the station building.

Preservation

The station was preserved and reopened as a tourist destination with a grand re-opening held on October 23, 2008. Through efforts from the city and local residents, the depot was transformed into the Dade City Heritage and Cultural Museum in 2018, where it now houses artifacts, photographs, documents, and records of historic places and longtime residents of Dade City. The museum consists of a main exhibition space, a model train room, and a Community Archive and Reading Room, where residents can conduct research on Dade City's people and history. The museum is a registered 501(c)3 non-profit and maintains close ties to the city of Dade City.

Gallery

File:JWGII DadeCityACLDepot 01.JPG, Historical marker on the station exterior. File:Dade City ACL Railroad Depot6.jpg, View of the station from the southeast side.

History

Preservation

Gallery

References

External links