Silverhill Train Depot

1905-1926

Photo of the Silverhill Train Depot in Robertsdale about 1915.
The Silverhill Train Depot in Robertsdale about 1915-1920s by Frank Stewart, The Picture Man. The shipping platform is shown accepting cucumbers for shipment to the north. - Click to enlarge.


Photo of the Silverhill Train Depot in Robertsdale about 1915.
The shipping platform next to the Silverhill Train Depot in Robertsdale about 1915-1920s by Frank Stewart, The Picture Man. The shipping platform is shown accepting cucumbers for shipment to the north. - Click to enlarge.



         The Silverhill Train Depot was constructed by the L&N, the Louisville, and Nashville Railroad Company, three miles northeast of the center of Silverhill. A community, named Robertsdale, grew around the Silverhill depot, and was founded in 1905.
Silverhill train depot located in what is now Robertsdale on Chigago street, across from Campbell's Hardware. - Click to enlarge.



         From 1897 to 1900, many Swedish families had moved to Silverhill. They cleared land, built homes and farms. The crops they grew were only raised to feed the farmers' own families.

This is a postcard picture of the depot with the Silverhill Hotel to the right and behind the depot. - Click to enlarge.


         In 1901, farm produce was raised for market for the first time. Crops the farmers planted were sweet potatoes, Irish potatoes, string beans and some strawberries.


         The farm produce had to be hauled with horse and wagon to Daphne, then across the bay by boat to Mobile to be sold. Often the prices were so low that the farmer received practically nothing in return. At that time, Mobile was a very poor place for marketing produce.
A newspaper clipping showing the Silverhill Depot with the sign on the side of the building. - Click to enlarge.


         Also in 1901, the Silverhill farmers receive news that the L&N Railroad intended to extend their rails south from Bay Minette to Fort Morgan. Hopes were high that the L&N would put a depot in Silverhill. This would have made shipping produce much easier for the farmer.

         The Baldwin County section of the railroad was completed on May 11, 1905. It extended 37 miles from Bay Minette to Foley, never reaching Fort Morgan as earlier planned. And to the dismay of the Silverhill farmer, the railroad did not run through the center of Silverhill, but instead it was built three miles to the east of town.

Above is a map of the L&N railroad with all of its stops and the names of the stations. The map is dated 1-28-'13. - Click to enlarge.


         With a train depot came the need for a hotel. A hotel was built near the depot on the main street running beside the railroad. The area was still known as Silverhill and the depot was named Silverhill by the L&N Railroad, so the hotel was named the Silverhill Hotel.

Above is a newspaper clipping from The Baldwin Times dated October 22, 1908. - Click to enlarge.



This advertisement ran weekly in the Foley Onlooker beginning Friday, March 4, 1910 through September 2, 1910.

         The Silverhill Hotel is believed to have been built across the street from the Silverhill Train Depot, on the corner of Ohio and Chicago Street also known as State Highway 59 North. The hotel may have been destroyed by fire before 1925.
The Silverhill Hotel is believed to have been built across the street from the Silverhill Train Depot, on the corner of Ohio and Chicago Street in what is now Robertsdale. - Click to enlarge.


Above is a news article clipped from the Foley Onlooker, dated June 5, 1919. - Click to enlarge. Above is a news article clipped from the Foley Onlooker, dated Nov. 25, 1920. - Click to enlarge.


         The train station remained the Silverhill Depot until 1926, when it was renamed the Robertsdale Depot.

Above is an article from the Foley Onlooker, dated October 30, 1926. - Click to enlarge.