User:BarbertonHistoricalSoc/The Barberton Erie Depot

Depot
Built in 1890, by O. C. Barber this Eastlake Stick Style depot was the first commercial building built in Barberton. The Erie Depot was necessary to boom the new town of Barberton, as the Erie linked New York and Chicago, and thus was necessary to promote O. C. Barber's new town. The depot had separate waiting rooms to accommodate men and unescorted women.

Tracks
What became the Erie railroad tracks were running through what was then Norton in 1851, 39 years before the Erie Depot was built.

Presidents Of The US Visiting Barberton
This occurred not by the station but on the Erie line at Fairview crossing. On April 29, 1951, an Erie train and an Ohio National Guard tank crashed. Three guardsmen were killed. The tank and other vehicles had been returning to Barberton from field maneuvers. The convoy was crossing Fairview Ave, when an eastbound Erie passenger train traveling about 60 miles per hour struck the second tank.

Anna Barber
On February 3, 1896 Anna Laura Barber married Dr. Arthur Dean Bevan at the Barberton Inn. The honeymooning couple left Barberton at 1:30 AM on February 4, 1896 on a special train held at the Erie Depot to take the couple back to Chicago where Dr. Bevan practiced medicine. Inventor of a surgical technique called the “Bevan Button.” Arthur Dean Bevan was a renowned surgeon, personal physician to Theodore Roosevelt, and president of the American Medical Association.

Special Envoys Of Foreign Governments
The buildings of the Diamond Machine, still standing on Second Street in Barberton played host, at different times, to special envoys sent to Barberton by Kaiser Wilhelm of Germany and his cousin, Czar Nicholas of Russia. These special envoys arrived in Barberton via the Erie Railroad and were met with great fanfare by O. C. Barber and other officers of the Diamond Match at the Erie Depot. The envoys were in Barberton to see special new match making equipment made by Diamond Machine for use in Diamond Match plants through out the world. Diamond Match controlled 85% of the U.S. match trade and 1/5 of the world's match production. Diamond’s largest plant was in Barberton Ohio.

Pheasants
In March of 1914, 200 Mongolian pheasants arrived at the Erie Depot headed to the Anna Dean Farm.

Liberty Bell
In 1915 the Liberty Bell passed by the Erie Depot while traveling on to the Panama Pacific Exposition. Along the way the Liberty Bell made several stops, although the train did not stop in Barberton.

Whale
"Moby Dick is Coming to Town"  Large ads in the local paper invited Barbertonians to view the 68 ton whale on exhibit at the Erie Depot. The exhibit was open day and night and cost $.25 for adults and $.10 for children. The 55 foot long whale arrived in the 1920s. A special railroad car had been constructed to transport the gigantic whale. Those who remember the whale also remember the gigantic smell. Captain Jonathan Barnett accompanied the exhibit and regaled the public with talk of whale lore.

1951 Tank Collision
This occurred not by the station but on the Erie line at Fairview crossing. On April 29, 1951, an Erie train and an Ohio National Guard tank crashed. Three guardsmen were killed. The tank and other vehicles had been returning to Barberton from field maneuvers. The convoy was crossing Fairview Ave, when an eastbound Erie passenger train traveling about 60 miles per hour struck the second tank.

1966 Train Derailment
In 1966, there was a crash on the Erie tracks under the Wooster Road viaduct. An eastbound Erie freight train became derailed, and smashed up. Five of the cars were oil tankers, one was a flat bed carrying a large earth mover, and six cars contained crushed coal. The others were loaded with baby formula and lumber. It took 200 men three days working in 8 hour shifts to clean this mess up.

Erie Depot And The Barberton Historical Society
Late in 2012 the Barberton Historical Society, founded in 1965, began a capital campaign to acquire and restore the Erie Depot.

$5,000 was generously donated by one individual and the Barberton Community Foundation contributed $8500 towards our capital campaign. It is the goal of the Barberton Historical Society to see the Erie Depot restored as a visitors center and an office for the historical society’s use.