History of the Potter Street Station

 

1857 - Railroad company formed in Saginaw to build a line from Pere Marquette, now Ludington, to Flint.

1859 - First rail of the Flint line is laid at a point near Washington and Potter.

1862 - Flint & Pere Marquette Railroad opens its first section of track from Saginaw to Mount Morris. The inaugural trip was on Jan. 20. One hundred Saginawians took the journey.

1881 - Potter Street Station is built. Railway passenger service was at its peak from the 1800s well into the 1900s. The birth of the automobile and improved highways and roads were the demise of the railroads.

1950 - Passenger service from the Potter Street Station is discontinued.

1955- Chesapeake & Ohio Railways, owners of the Potter Street Station, suggest tearing down the depot in order to build a new warehouse- office building.

1964 - New York Central Railroad coach, the Beeliner, is the last passenger train from Saginaw. The Beeliner's daily run was from Detroit to Saginaw to Bay City and back. The New York Central depot was on West Genesee near Michigan.

1986 - Potter Street Station is closed.

1988-89 - City officials order CSX Transportation, formerly Chesapeake & Ohio Railways, to demolish the Potter Street Station by September of 1988. Area railroad and history enthusiasts develop rescue plans.

1988 - CSX sold depot to the Saginaw Depot Preservation Corporation.

1990 - January - CSX transfer title to the Saginaw Depot Preservation Corporation.

1991 - Saginaw City Council proposed demolition of the depot under the city’s Dangerous Buildings Ordinance.

April 16-17, 1991 - Fire severely damages Potter Street Station.

1993 - January - Governor John Engler awarded a grant of $181,600 to the City of Saginaw for the stabilization of the depot upon application by the SDPC.

Some of the above information was taken from the Saginaw News April 17, 1991.