Lick Skillet Railroad Work Station Historic District

The Lick Skillet Railroad Work Station Historic District is a historic district in Brinkley, Arkansas that was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1992.^[1]

Brinkley
Former Rock Island Line passenger station
Former Union Station, today the Central Delta Depot Museum
General information
Location	100 West Cypress Street, Brinkley, Arkansas 72021
Platforms	1
History
Rebuilt	1912
Services
Preceding station Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railroad Following station Eden toward Tucumcari Tucumcari – Memphis Wheatley toward Memphis Preceding station St. Louis Southwestern Railway Following station Stuttgart toward Gatesville Main Line Hunter toward St. Louis Terminus Brinkley – Memphis Rich toward Memphis
Lick Skillet Railroad Work Station Historic District
U.S. National Register of Historic Places
U.S. Historic district
Location in Arkansas Show map of Arkansas Location in United States Show map of the United States
Location	Jct. of E. Cypress St. and New Orleans Ave., Brinkley, Arkansas
Coordinates	34°53′16″N 91°11′30″W
Built	1912
Architect	Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific RR
Architectural style	Late 19th And 20th Century Revivals, Mission/Spanish Revival, Mediterranean Revival
NRHP reference No.	92000558[1]
Added to NRHP	June 1, 1992

It includes the former Brinkley Union Station located at the site of the former crossing of the Rock Island and Cotton Belt railroads in Brinkley, Monroe County in eastern Arkansas. In addition to the Rock Island and Cotton Belt, the station also served branchline trains of the Missouri Pacific.^{[citation needed]}

It also includes Rusher Hotel, also known as Great Southern Hotel.

History

Brinkley's Union Station was constructed in 1912 as a joint station to be utilized by all railroads passing through Brinkley. Cotton Belt passenger train service through Brinkley ended in 1959 and the last Rock Island passenger train stopped at Brinkley on November 10, 1967. Rock Island trackage west from Brinkley to near Little Rock was abandoned and dismantled in the mid-1980s.^{[citation needed]}

Named passenger trains which stopped at Brinkley Union Station include:

• Choctaw Rocket
• Lone Star
• Morning Star^[2]

The station and nearby railroad hotel are listed on the National Register of Historic Places as Lick Skillet Railroad Work Station Historic District and Rusher Hotel.

Central Delta Depot Museum

After sitting abandoned for a number of years, Brinkley Union Station has now been restored and is operated as the Central Delta Depot Museum, a local history museum run by the Central Delta Historical Society. Exhibits focus on the natural, social, agricultural, and cultural history of the Arkansas Delta region. Displays include railroad artifacts, mussel diving, jazz musician Louis Jordan, military artifacts, wildlife displays, household artifacts and local history. The grounds include a train depot originally located in Monroe, Arkansas; a sharecropper’s house; and a Southern Pacific Railroad caboose.^[3]

References

1. "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. March 13, 2009.
2. Official Guide of the Railways, June 1945. National Railway Publication Company, New York.
3. Kuczynski, Terri (2009). Images of America: Monroe County. Arcadia Publishing. ISBN 978-0-7385-6821-8.

External links

• Monroe County Listings on the National Register of Historic Places