Port Orange Florida East Coast Railway Freight Depot

View from the platform of the depot.

Alternate view of the station, which was previously two buildings.

The Port Orange Florida East Coast  Railway Freight Depot is located at 415C Herbert Street in Port Orange. The station was originally constructed as two buildings in 1894 and was part of the Florida East Coast (FEC) Railway.[1] The passenger station and freight depot were joined in 1924. Passenger service was discontinued in 1932, so that a passenger door, windows, and a dock across the northern gable were removed from the northern portion of the depot in 1938.[2] After facing demolition in 1966, the one-story, vernacular commercial-style building was moved 500 feet directly north along the railroad track from its original location.[3]

Attempting to open Florida’s east coast for tourists and development, former associate of John D. Rockefeller in the Standard Oil Company, Henry Flagler, assembled several short line railroads, consolidated them under the East Coast Line system and renamed the company the Florida East Coast Railway in 1895.[4] The FEC typically built temporary depots in small settlements, later enlarging the existing building if a town required more services. The Port Orange depot was a simple, standardized-frame building designed by the railroad’s engineering department in the tradition of many railroad depots of the late 19^th century.[5]

A good example of vernacular railroad architecture and of how railroad companies altered existing buildings over time to reflect changing economic forces and community needs, the depot was placed on the U.S. National Register of Historic Places on February 5, 1998.[6] Along with a few laborer cottages in Maytown and New Smyrna Beach, the Port Orange depot is the only FEC resource left standing in the county. It is one of the few remaining wood-frame railroad buildings in Central Florida.[7]