Fulda Depot tour highlights city’s history

Several people gathered for a tour of the Fulda Depot, the Fulda Depot Annex Building and the Fulda Heritage Society Caboose on Wednesday afternoon. The event was sponsored by the Fulda Memorial Library, Slayton Library, and Murray County Heritage Society.

The tour began inside the Fulda Depot, with Fulda Heritage Society members Loretta Gehl, Jerry Johnson and Marge Winter conducting the depot portion of the tour. The tour group learned that the very first train arrived in Fulda on September 7, 1879. Winter told the group that they were standing in the waiting room that was designated for women and children. “The other waiting room was for the men,” she said.

When asked about the architectural style of the depot, Johnson stated that it is a two-story, Eastlake Style and that it is the only one of its kind that remains in southwestern Minnesota.

The Fulda Depot is actually several separate rooms on the ground level. The women’s waiting room, the men’s waiting room, the office, and the baggage area.

The office of the depot is still equipped with the original desk, chair, heating stove, a telephone, and parts of the telegraph.

The upstairs of the depot is where the station master and his family lived. The tour group members did not venture up the steep steps during Wednesday’s tour, as that floor is currently closed.

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