Guide to the Dothan Landmarks Foundation, Inc.,
Historical Collections:
ACL—SAL—CSX Depot, Dothan, Alabama, Records, 1908-1984
Record Group/Accession 030-04-0424

Date processed:  2005
 

Repository Information

Archives of Wiregrass History & Culture
Troy University--Dothan Campus
P.O. Box 8368
Dothan, AL  36304

Website:  http://dothan.troy.edu/archives

Ph:  334-983-6556 x-327
E-mail:  Archivist Dr. Martin T. Olliff  <molliff@troy.edu>

Administrative Information

Permanent Accession Size:  ca. 24 cubic ft.

Organizational History:  Dothan Landmarks Foundation, Inc. (DLF), was founded in 1976 with a three-part mission:  to operate Landmark Park as a museum recreating farm life in the Wiregrass as it existed circa 1900, to create programs to explore the natural history of the Wiregrass region, and to act as a local historical society by coordinating local history work and collecting artifacts and archival collections that document the area’s people.  DLF has had 3 Executive Directors, operates under an 18-member Board of Directors, and employs both full-time and part-time employees.  Since 1993, it has acted as the home of the Alabama State Agricultural Museum.

Historical Sketch:  In 1907, the Atlantic Coast Line Railway (ACL) built a passenger and freight depot in the “Dixie” district of Dothan, Alabama, approximately at the intersection of St. Andrews St. and Powell St., near downtown.  This building is adjacent to the “Standpipe,” a pipe-shaped water tower bearing the words, “City of Dothan.”  This station served the ACL and its successors, the Seaboard Atlantic Line and CSX, until it closed ca. 1984.  CSX gave the depot to the City of Dothan, which in turn gave it to Dothan Landmarks Foundation.  In 2004, Dothan Landmarks Foundation returned the depot to the city’s Wiregrass Transportation division which had received a grant  to remodel the depot as its headquarters.  In April 2004, the Archives of Wiregrass History and Culture worked with Dothan Landmarks Foundation to acquire and preserve these depot records.

The ACL created operational divisions that were responsible to the Superintendent of Terminals at the Jacksonville, FL, hub.  At the Dixie Depot, those reflected in the surviving records were the Terminal Superintendent (Station Master), the Trainmaster, the Yardmaster, and the Property Protection Department (which also reported separately to the Acting Chief of Property Protection at ACL headquarters).

Scope/Content:  This collection documents activity of the various divisions of the ACL depot in Dothan, AL, 1908-ca.1984, though most of the materials reflect the period 1940-1960.  The collection consists of dossiers, forms, and files; publications including rule and safety books, bulletins, equipment specification, and labor agreements; artifacts; and photographs.  One of the most significant parts of the collection is the Agreements/Contracts sub-subseries of the Division Files series, Roadmaster subseries, described below.

Organization and Arrangement:  The Dixie Depot Records are organized into 5 Series, with subseries as described:  [note: Click linked title to jump to that series' file-level inventory]

Series 1—Administrative Files:  General files that appeared to the processor to have been maintained by the Station Master or did not fit obviously into any other division’s files.

Subseries 1—Office Files:  87 folders.  Various forms, reports, bills, and informational files keeping track of the day-to-day business of the Depot.  Arranged alphabetically by topic.

Subseries 2—Shipment / Freight Claims:  14 folders.  Notices of shipment of goods, claims from shippers for damaged freight, freight department bulletins, and waybills.

Subseries 3—Operation / Safety Rules:  47 folders.  Manuals and instruction books of operating rules for ACL, SAL, and CSX..

Subseries 4—Equipment / Specification Files:  24 folders.  Specification manuals and sheets for various pieces of equipment and rolling stock.

Subseries 5—Labor Agreements:  27 folders.  Union contract and associated paperwork. 

Subseries 6—Personnel Files:  46 folders.  Dossiers, seniority lists, examination reports, rosters, duty assignments.  Many restricted by AWHC because of privacy concerns.

Series 2—Division Files: 

Subseries 1—Property Protection:  82 folders divided into 2 sub-subseries—Files by Officer Name and General Subject Files.  Document investigations, procedures, laws, accidents that pertain to property protection for the railroad.

Subseries 2—Trainmaster:  65 folders.  Memos, reports, correspondence, reference materials, bulletins, conductors’ reports pertaining to the running of trains through the Dothan District.  Arranged by type of document.

Subseries 3—Roadmaster:  182 folders.  Reports, memos, reference materials, checklists, daily books, train orders, correspondence, and contracts with specifications regarding the maintenance and use of the right-of-way.  Arranged into 3 sub-subseries:  Files by Roadmaster name, Track Files, and Agreements/Contracts (date span, 1908-1982).

Series 3—Artifacts:  5 items.  Three-dimensional articles used around the depot.

Series 4—Oversized Materials:  59 folders.  Reports of Materials Used and Section Foreman Checkrolls, too large to fit in standard box.

Series 5—Professional Diaries/Calendars:  Pocket logbooks kept by trainmasters and roadmasters recording incidents of interest.

Cite as:  Dothan Landmarks Foundation, Inc., ACL-SAL-CSX Depot Records, 1908-1984, RG030/Historical Collections, Archives of Wiregrass History and Culture, Troy University--Dothan Campus, Dothan, AL.

Donor:  William Holman, Executive Director, Dothan Landmarks Foundation

Donor website/E-mail:  <http://www.landmarkpark.com/>;  wmholman@landmarkpark.com

Processor and Date:  T. Bernath, K. Chabliss, M. Olliff;   February 2005.

Access:  Open per donor agreement

URL:  http://dothan.troy.edu/archives/inventories/030_rrdepot.htm

INVENTORY

Series 1:  Administrative Files