Nauvoo Depot Museum

Nauvoo Depot The Nauvoo Depot Museum in Nauvoo, Walker County, is a replica of the original 1897 train depot that stood at the museum’s current location for much of the twentieth century. Located along the Northern Alabama Railway, the Nauvoo Train Depot was important to the small town’s burgeoning mining economy. The original depot fell into disrepair and eventual ruin, and the replica was constructed by the Nauvoo Historical Society in 1997, exactly 100 years after the completion of the original station.

The town of Nauvoo began as a small agricultural community originally known as Ingle Mills, but was eventually changed to “Nauvoo” after Nauvoo, Illinois. The area became an important locus of coal mining and timber harvesting, later aided by the construction of the Northern Alabama Railway in 1888. In 1897, a new train depot was constructed. A decreasing dependence upon coal in second half of the twentieth century led to the exodus of many citizens who sought work elsewhere.

In 1997, local citizen Eugene McDaniel and the Nauvoo Historical Society hired Mitchell McDaniel, also a native of Nauvoo, to build a facsimile of the original train depot. Located on the west side of the railroad tracks, the new Nauvoo Depot Museum would serve as a central location for the preservation and commemoration of Nauvoo’s agricultural, industrial, and mining heritage. The museum displays various period antiques, picture, and even features an on-site caboose to tell the story of the train station and Nauvoo’s local industry. It is currently open May through September and may be available to hosts events. Nearby is the Harbin Hotel (ca. 1923), which is listed on the Alabama Register of Landmarks and Heritage. Bankhead National Forest is located about three miles northeast of town.