As far back as 1888, travelers would gather at the Odum Depot to wait for one of two new daily passenger trains. Somewhere around 1904, the original Odum Depot was destroyed by fire. In 1905, a new Depot was built and remained in Odum until 1969, when it was purchased by Will Murphy and moved to Jesup. In 1984, the City of Jesup condemned the building and moved it to the city’s sewer treatment plant.
Several local history buffs recognized the building in 1992 and started making plans for its return to Odum. The City of Odum applied for and received a $100,000 Transportation Enhancement Grant through the Department of Community Affairs and a Local Development Grant in the amount of $10,000. With these monies, along with donations from Odum citizens and a $3,000 donation from Odum Homecoming, the restoration process began.
In October 2002, days after the 27th annual Odum Day, the Depot was moved back to its rightful place in downtown Odum. It took more than three and one-half hours to move the 68 x 35 foot building 12 miles to its town-square site.
The Depot arrived in Odum with no roof, no windows, no doors intact. Vines were growing in the building, and someone had built a fire in the freight room causing damage to the heart pines floor. The Depot consisted of four rooms; a large freight room, an office where the Depot master sat at the bay window so he could watch for the train coming down the track, and two waiting rooms.
Within two weeks of its return home, the nearly 100 year old building began to take shape and started to resemble the Depot that once stood in Odum, sheltering those waiting to hear the whistle of the Old Southern Railway engine traveling on the East Tennessee, Georgia and Virginia Railroad and await the conductor’s call of ALL ABOARD.
Even though this majestic building will never again be used for this purpose, we can be proud of the efforts and persistence of those who brought home to Odum a little piece of history for all to enjoy.