| The railroad through Nashville was originally built
by Grand River Valley Railroad Company and ran from Jackson to Grand Rapids.
In 1870 the GRVR was leased in perpetuality to the Michigan Central Railroad,
which was part of the New York Central "empire". This line was the New York
Central's main line to Grand Rapids, Michigan's second largest city.
The building itself was probably built in the 1920's. This
was a prosperous era for the railroad and a good time to replace older stations
along the line. Passenger service was still an important source of income
to the railroads. However, competition from autos was inevitable and passenger
service ended in 1959. The line was abandoned by NYC succesor PennCentral
and operated briefly by the Kent, Barry and Eaton Connecting RR, with a state
subsidy. State money ran out and the rails were removed in the
1980's.
The depot is now part of the Nashville VFW. The building
is well maintained, but not very pretty due to permanently boarded over
windows. |
