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Show 222 Utah Historical libraries a n d in the h a n d s of anyone w h o is even half serious about doing his or her own life story or family history. The Country Railroad Station in America. W I L L I A M G. Quarterly HARTLEY Brigham Young University Salt Lake City Center By H . R O G E R G R A N T a n d C H A R L E S W . B O H I . (Boulder, Colo.: Pruett Publishing C o m p a n y , 1978. 183 p p . $22.50.) Sometimes as a n ornate architectural statement in a n established county seat a n d sometimes as a prefabricated wooden rectangle slid off a railcar in advance of civilization, t h e small town rail station in N o r t h America is treated thoroughly by t h e authors. Both m e n grew u p with t h e subject a n d both are teachers of history. T h e y p h o t o g r a p h e d over forty-six depots in the mid-1960s, by which time the small-town depot was becoming a vestigial reminder of the days w h e n railroads d o m i n a t e d the transfer of people a n d goods from coast to coast. T h e book is a b u n d a n t l y illustrated, with fewer t h a n one dozen pages lacking a p h o t o g r a p h or rendering of a country depot. N o t only d o the photographs give t h e reader a chance to compare a n d contrast, b u t they corroborate the authors' t h e m e t h a t small town depots have waned as active centers of the community except in the cases of a d a p t a tion for other uses. T h e graphics along with the narrative give the reader a microcosmic view of the nation's economic development, using depot style as an indicator of a town's affluence, permanence, a n d climate. T h e authors concentrate on the 80,000 railroad stations built by 1916 in the United States which cost less t h a n $25,000 to construct, a n d they succeed in portraying these depots as " t h e pivots of life in all its most tumultuous departures a n d arrivals." T h e combination station served both passenger and freight functions a n d was often the town's meeting hall, political arena, social center, a n d even church. I n at least one case, a fortune was spawned in a combination station w h e n in 1886, in Redwood, Minnesota, the company agent for the Minneapolis a n d Saint Louis line acquired a shipment of watches t h a t h a d been refused for delivery by the local jeweler. T h e agent was R i c h a r d W a r r e n Sears, a n d his subsequent profitable sale of the jewelry was the beginning of Sears, Roebuck, and C o m p a n y . T h e authors set o u t to explain in general terms why the combination stations evolved as they did a n d then concentrate on the regional differences as found east a n d west of the Mississippi River a n d in C a n a d a . T h e station agent, privy to m u c h a d v a n c e news, is described as the best informed m a n in most towns. Fie often lived with his family in the station. T h e evolution of the combination stations reflects the merger of several independent railroads into larger companies, helping to explain the greater divergence of architectural style in the East where depots were built by m a n y predecessor railroads, as compared to the West where one railroad could span the continent from t h e Mississippi to the Pacific. Another mirror of national economic development was the use of standardized building plans for the sake of economy a n d c o m p a n y identity, using only architectural trim or different paint colors to vary the theme. T h e harshness of winters a n d scarcity of population dictated spartan design for prairie town depots, which were often accompanied by adjoining wooden platforms a n d water towers. T h e authors explore the building policies a n d plans of the n a tion's railroads, explaining h o w the territory served, a n d t h e company's economic condition influenced, depot style. T h e final c h a p t e r projects the future |
