The most recent rail depot at Sewanee was constructed in the 1960s following the demolition of the 19th-century freight and passenger depots for the construction of the Highway 41A bypass. The rail line continued to the coke and coal fields in Grundy County, but by the early 1970s, the depot was so under-used that the railroad considered subleasing the building. The agreement with the University, however, said once the building was no longer being used for railroad purposes, the depot was to revert to the University.
It housed a bait shop for a while and then found new purpose as a pharmacy. Beginning in 1982, the depot building served as the location for the newly formed Sewanee Drug Company, under the ownership of pharmacist Frank Brown. The pharmacy changed hands in 1985 and was owned and operated for twenty years by pharmacist Doug Dye. Known as the Sewanee Pharmacy, it was bought out by CVS and closed at the end of 2005. The most recent occupant, Karen Throneberry's salon called the Hair Depot, operated from 2011 to 2022. The University again owns the building and future plans for the building could include a visitor center in this space.
see TRAIN DEPOTS
Mandi Johnson, University Archivist, August 2022
Photo courtesy of Mary O'Neill