The historic Dade City Atlantic Coast Line Railroad Depot, which is currently unoccupied, faces an uncertain future.

  • No passenger pickups by trains since 2004
  • Historic building is city-owned
  • Depot currently unoccupied

The brick building has served many purposes since it opened in 1912, in addition to being a train stop for the Atlantic Coast Line Railroad.

“It’s been a train depot continually,” said Bill Dayton, Dade City lawyer and historian. “In theory, it’s still a train depot, though no trains stop there anymore.”

The last train to pick up passengers was an Amtrak train in 2004. Ten years prior, the location was added to the National Register of Historic Places.

The city now owns the historic building, and has leased it out over the years.

“For a long time (the city) leased it to the Pioneer Museum,” Dayton said. “We had a museum annex there for some years.”

The city even used it for some of their departments until the Municipal Complex opened earlier this year. Now, city officials work to figure out what the next steps for the building should be.

For Dayton, preserving the building is important. There aren’t many like it anymore.

“Most of the other (Florida train depots) have been altered and modified and remodeled,” he said. “But this one is very close to its original condition.”