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147 pages, 147 photos, 9 drawings, 1993
$22.00 paper, 0-87745-588-0, 978-0-87745-588-2
“The University of Iowa Press is to be commended on a superb presentation. The author, an historian and the editor of Railroad History, deserves thanks for rescuing the menial railway depot from oblivion or unrecognizable gentrification. His efforts will reward more than just North American railway buffs and architectural historians. Part of the book's wider significance is that it is a reminder of the value of visual and oral material as part of transport's historical record.”—Journal of Transport History
“This well-researched volume examines the American railroad depot in social and architectural terms, aspects which usually go unremarked. After differentiating between depots, which were single buildings, and stations, which were a collection of structures, H. Roger Grant traces depots from their beginnings as a existing trackside hotels, stores, or residences to highly specialized buildings developed by individual railroads for their particular needs. . . . The book is easy, delightful reading, suited both to the rail and the social historian. It reinforces Grant's credentials as one of the nation's two or three foremost contemporary scholarly rail historians.”—Indiana Magazine of History
“This is an excellent resource, not only on a rather neglected aspect of railroad life and work, but also on functional architectural forms and the social aspects of these rural transportation outposts.”—Choice
“This ground-breaking study is certain to appeal to anyone with an interest in railroad history or American architecture.”—Library Journal
At the heart of this excellent book are the striking and rare postcards that provide a comprehensive visual review of this popular building type from coast to coast. Over 150 illustrations feature the gingerbread structures of the Northeast, the simple buildings of the Gold Rush West, and the mission-style stations of the Southwest in this first book to concentrate on this overlooked aspect of railroad history.
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