The Garner Depot building originally stood adjacent to the railroad tracks, situated between what is now East Garner Road and Main Street. In 1954, Hurricane Hazel did extensive damage to the building, destroying the end where the waiting rooms and Depot Agent’s office were located. In 1967, the train station at Garner was decommissioned by the railroad, and the Depot building was eventually moved away from the railroad tracks and located behind some Main Street structures and under the Garner water tower. It was used as Town storage for many years, until a group of citizens organized to have the Depot moved back to its original location in 1987 to create a museum. Restoration efforts (all done by volunteers) began, and the damaged portion of the Depot was rebuilt according to its original specifications. Sadly, this effort stalled before the museum came to fruition and the Depot again sat unused and deteriorating for many years.
Enter a group of Garner women: the building was deteriorating even more rapidly than before and needed to be rescued. In 2018, these women formed the initial group that became the Garner Area Historical Society, enlisting the help of other interested citizens and lobbying the Town of Garner. (After it was decommissioned, the Depot had been given to Garner by the railroad.) Members of GAHS appeared before the Town Council, seeking to have the Depot moved to a safer, more accessible spot. The Town of Garner generously agreed to have both the Depot building and the vintage caboose moved to a Town-owned lot just two blocks away from its original location, and with a clear view of the railroad tracks.
It was an exciting day in December 2019 when the Depot and Caboose moved across the railroad tracks and down Main Street to their new location at 106 Pearl Street. In 2020, the Town of Garner began stabilizing and repairing the Depot building, replacing damaged wood siding, replacing damaged windows and doors, dealing with water damage to the lower-level floors, re-sheathing and replacing the metal roof, and adding ADA accessible entries. Meanwhile, the GAHS group began raising funds to help set up the museum, which would be called the Garner History Museum at the Depot and entered a contract with the Town of Garner to operate a history museum in the Garner Depot.
On November 21, 2021, the Garner History Museum at the Depot opened its doors. Since that time, hundreds of visitors – many of them children – have experienced exhibits featuring aspects of life in Garner from the early 1900s through the early 2000s.
The Board of Directors of Capital Area Preservation, Inc. is pleased to present a 2023 Anthemion Award to the Town of Garner; Garner Area Historical Society; TMTLA Associates; Total Construction by Dale Lands, LLC; CinMarx, LLC; Blake Moving and rigging, LLC for the Relocation, Rehabilitation & Adaptive reuse of the Garner Depot.