Help sought to save historic train depot
New development threatens building built in 1880s
Fire Chief John Novak, of the Countyline Fire Department, is asking the public’s help to preserve a piece of railroad history that is associated with Yuma County.
Novak explained that his department was recently gifted a train depot that was built in Sentinel in the late 1880s that was a stop along Southern Pacific Railroad’s famous “Sunset route,” which ran from the Pacific Coast to New Orleans.
“There were stations built along the route in Yuma, Wellton, Mohawk, Sentinel and Gila Bend,” Novak said. “This is the only one remaining. There is so much history to this building.”
The 130-year-old, Lshaped building currently sits on the same property as the Sentinel market. The owners, however, plan to demolish both buildings in order to construct a new travel center on the site.
“After speaking with the owners, they decided to gift it to the fire department so that it could be saved,” Novak said.
The problem is that the fire department does not have the money or capability to move the building, which is made of solid redwood and is still fully-intact and structurally sound. Further complicating matters is he doesn’t have much time to do it.
“I’m a firefighter and paramedic, I’m used to
helping people in emergencies and tearing buildings down when they are on fire, not preserving or moving them,” Novak said. “I’m way out of my element here, so this is my 911 call to those with more expertise and the means to do so.”
The plan is to move the depot from its current site to property the fire department owns about half a mile away. Novak said what he needs is someone who would volunteer to move the building, or donors who would provide money to hire a company to do it.
“It is already sitting on concrete pillars, so it is a foot off the ground,” Novak said.
Closed by Southern Pacific in the 1960s, the depot was originally located about 40 feet east of its current location, on the south side of the tracks at Sentinel Road. Novak did not know when it was moved to its current location.
Shortly after posting the fire department’s plight on the non-profit agency’s Facebook page, Novak was contacted by Jean-Guy Dube, who is a historical architect and member of the Southern Pacific Historical and Technical Society.
It was Dube who actually informed Novak of the building’s significance.
According to Dube, the train station in Sentinel is the last surviving early telegraph office and depot. He explained that a depot with a telegraph office differed from just a normal depot in that its primary mission was to control train traffic in remote area.
“Trains would stop and receive their orders at telegraph offices,” Dube wrote. “The depot function was added later for local residents’ convenience.”
Coming from California, the telegraph office depots along the route were located in Dome Valley, Wellton, Mohawk and Sentinel. Normal depots were built in Yuma and Gila Bend.
“Of all those communities, only the Sentinel depot remains,” Dube wrote.
Anyone willing to help is urged to contact Novak by phone at 480-980-4077. His email address is Countylinefirechief@hotmail.com. A Facebook has also been created at www.facebook. com/Countyline-Fire-Department-562980703779402/