Jackson’s Greyhound Station sold; to be restored
For 80 years, the Greyhound Station on East Main Street has been a stopping point for thousands of buses and many more people on their journeys. It will close its doors as a working bus station for the last time sometime this fall, but that will not be the end of the road for one of Jackson’s most historic buildings.
Current owner Doris Hollowell, 84, has owned and operated the station since 1973. She said it is time for her to move on.
“I’ll be 85 in February, so I decided if I’m going to get any retirement years in, I better be getting started on it,” she said with a smile.
The Greyhound station was built in 1938, and was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1993 for its architectural significance. It is the last original Greyhound station in the state of Tennessee still being used for its original purpose.
Hollowell is in the process of selling the building to Jackson restoration contractor John Allen and said she thinks the station will be officially closed by October. Those who have bus tickets need not worry, Jackson will still have bus service, though it will be moved to a different location that hasn’t yet been finalized.
The structure and historical features of what may be Downtown Jackson’s most-photographed building are safe as well, Allen said. He has purchased and renovated around 26 buildings in downtown, he said, and he intends to make the building as original as possible, from restoring the neon, to collecting memorabilia to capture the history of the building’s interior.
“The thing I’m interested in with that bus station is to relive as much of that history [as possible], because you’ve got people that went off to war, you’ve got people that have traveled all over the United States [there],” Allen said. “That bus station was a central transportation hub for all walks of life. And we want to bring out a lot of that history.”
Jackson Mayor Jerry Gist echoed Allen’s sentiment toward preserving the old building.
“It’s been a foundation of our city, especially downtown, for years and years,” Gist said. “There’s not many like it; it’s unique. Its architecture is unique. And I’m hopeful that the buyer will still continue to use the building in a constructive way for downtown.”
Allen said no plans have been set in stone, but he intends to make the station into a multipurpose space that can be a “destination point” for the community. He owns the building directly behind it, the Suites of Larue, so he may tie the station into that to take advantage of the Suites’ full commercial kitchen.
He said he wants to make it a compliment to the Ned R. McWherter West Tennessee Cultural Arts Center; patrons of the NED might come to the Greyhound station for dessert after shows in the future. The station might be an event venue, a place to play music, a place to
dance, or all three, Allen said. He said he wants it to be a part of downtown culture.
“As I’ve always said, every building down there has a story, and to be able to go into those buildings and pull out the past and then make a new future is just something that I’ve always enjoyed doing,” Allen said.
Matt Altobell, executive director of the Jackson Downtown Development Corporation, said he is excited for the station to be renovated.
“The Greyhound Bus Station is certainly one of the most iconic buildings — it’s probably the most iconic building in Jackson, Tennessee, and one of the most iconic in West Tennessee, I would say,” Altobell said. “In ... the historic preservation world, I think most people know about Jackson’s Greyhound Bus Station, and an effort to restore that building is really, really key. So I think it’s very exciting. Mr. Allen has a great track record of restoring things with a lot of integrity.”
46 years behind the counter
Doris Hollowell and her husband James moved to Jackson in 1973 from Memphis after James was given the opportunity to take over the Greyhound station on East Main Street. He had worked at the Greyhound station in Memphis for 18 years prior.
“He was Greyhound to the core,” Doris said.
She started working with him as soon as they came to Jackson. The small wooden desk behind the counter could be original to the building, she said. The countertop is a mosaic of 46 years’ worth of small slips of paper scrawled with phone numbers, notes and names covered in a sheet of glass. Doris said she prefers to write things down on paper.
When they first began running the station, the doors were open 24 hours a day, she said. They did not have any keys or locks in the building. A locksmith came to key the doors for the first time in its history with the Hollowells during the Greyhound Bus Lines strike in the early 1980s, Doris said.
She recalls coming into the station, sometimes as early as 2 a.m., to help customers arrange travel. On one occasion, a woman and her children came to the station in the middle of the night, and Doris came in to meet them. They had been stranded on the road and someone picked them up and brought them there.
Doris said she doesn’t remember too many details about that night, but she does know that she got them on the bus on time.
The Greyhound station has been featured in several films, as well as hundreds of photographs from travelers and passersby, Doris said. “Love Field,” a film starring Michelle Pfeiffer, was shot there in the 1970s, she said. She had never been on a movie set before.
“Every time I’d stand up they’d tell me to duck, so I didn’t get my picture made,” Doris said. “That was kind of an exciting time.”
A Christmas program about World War II filmed a scene about soldiers coming home at the station. A murder mystery documentary was filmed in the waiting area and made quite a mess with fake blood, according to Doris.
The building survived a fire in 2012. Doris’ son Mark, who has worked at the station since he was 14 and helped run the business since his father’s death nine years ago, was outside at the time.
“He came running in and said, ‘Run, Mama, the building’s on fire!’,” Doris said. “I thought he was funning with me.”
Doris said they stood across the street and watched the fire burn.
“The fire department did such a fantastic job,” she said. “They were on this roof just like they were over there, just trying to save this building. And we had a lot of damage, we had to have a new roof … we thought it was going down, but it didn’t.”
Among these memories, the relationships she’s forged with regular customers stand out, Doris said. She considers some of her regular customers to be like part of the family. She has sold a cup of coffee from the vending machines for just 25 cents — the same price as when she started there 46 years ago — because she can’t bear to change it for “the regulars,” she said.
She said the station has been her mission field for her ministry as well.
“I’ve just been able to minister to people that needed someone,” Doris said. “I hope that I have.”
In her retirement, Doris said she’s looking forward to spending time with her three greatgranddaughters, participating in her church’s senior group, taking care of the yard and cooking. She’s not much of a traveler, though.
“I’m just good when I can come home at night,” she said.
Mark, who has been riding his bike to the station nearly every day since he was 14 years old, plans to spend more time at his other job, repairing small engines.
“I don’t think I have any regrets at all,” he said. “It’s bittersweet; but you know, after you’ve been doing something so long, it’s time to move on.”
“It’s been really interesting,” Doris said. “I’ve met a lot of interesting people. It’s been fun, and it made me really sad when I started thinking [about selling] it, but then the more I thought about it, I knew it was time.”
But all in all, Doris said she’s happy with her time there.
“It’s been a good ride,” she said.
Reach Cassandra Stephenson at ckstephens@jacksonsun.com or at (731) 694-7261.
Kenneth Cummings contributed to this story.