A Railroad Freight Building Was Used as Union Barracks in 1865

Benjamin Baxter Suttle recalled that, with only a few exceptions, he watched the construction of nearly every brick building in Shelby. Among the buildings that predated his recollection was the freight building at the Seaboard Air Line railroad depot. This freight building had been constructed before the Civil War and was used as barracks for Yankee troops during the Federal occupation of Shelby in 1865. In the same account, Suttle listed other early buildings that once stood in Shelby, including homes, churches, hotels, and theaters, many of which were later torn away or replaced.

Source: Mamie Jones