Built in 1916, the former Louisville & Nashville Railroad depot in Tate exemplifies the
rural combination depot form and style. The combination depot, serving both freight and passengers, is generally a 1 or 1 1/2 story tall, three-bay building with a freight room at one end, waiting rooms at the other end, and offices in between. A projecting bay on the track-side of the building houses the ticket office. Many of these depots had segregated waiting rooms.
 |
| L&N 364 at Tate GA Sept 1966. Photo credit: George Lane, SSAVE. Some photo rights reserved; see this link at Creative Commons. For source photo, see this page at Flickr. Courtesy of RailGA.com |
 |
| A through-the-window shot of the interior |
 |
| Detail of freight room doors. |
Often, railroads would hire an architect to produce a single depot design and these would be reproduced down the line. Though not exact replicas, several depots along the L&N line share similar features.
 |
| Ellijay Depot, c. 1912. Photo by Leamon Scott, courtesy of RailGA.com |
 |
| Woodstock Depot, c. 1912. Courtesy of RailGA.com |
 |
| Blue Ridge depot, c. 1906. Courtesy of RailGA.com |
The Tate Depot remains noticeably intact, but has clearly suffered from neglect over the last couple decades. An approved $400,000 TEA grant from 2006 should be addressing this, but the project appears stalled. Of particular concern is the termite damage at the building's NE corner. An ill-thought alteration replaced a brick pier with a wood pier that is now home to a seriously overlooked termite colony - the sill plate is as soft as cardboard.
 |
| Termite damage on the Tate Depot |
