History:
Our sources show the building is dated July 1911. On June 10, 1912, the Iron Mountain #6 was the first train to arrive at the new Depot. The first Prescott and Northwestern (P&NW) passenger train departed the station on June 11, 1912. P&NW continued passenger service from this depot until November 1945. The Missouri Pacific, successor to the Iron Mountain Railroad, maintained the ticket office until 1965 (or 1967?). Railroad passenger service shutdown in 1965 (or 1967?).
In 1969, the building was threatened with demolition. On November 19, 1969, the Missouri Pacific Railroad Company and the City of Prescott, Arkansas entered into a lease for the 441x60 plot of land on which the depot building sits and the adjacent parking lots, with the lease effective March 18, 1970. On March 18, 1970, the Missouri Pacific Railroad Company issued a "Bill of Sale" to the City of Prescott, Arkansas for the 24'x188' one story brick depot building for the amount of one dollar.
The original plans were to convert the building to city offices and a courtroom. The noise of passing trains soon ended this plan. Briefly, there was an adult education class held in the south waiting room. The noise soon ended this project as well. From 1969 until 1972 part of the building was rented to local businesses as a warehouse.
The city and county Centennial Celebration during the summer of 1972 changed the future of the depot. Headquarters for the celebration were established at the depot. The train ride furnished by Potlatch and the P&NW Railroad that disembarked from the depot and featured the "great train robbery". Maxine Covington installed the "Short Branch Saloon" in the center hallway of the building. George Ivey built a complete replica of a pioneer cabin in the north waiting room. This exhibit was complete with a cooking fireplace, trestle table and string bed. It was this display that proved to a number of people what could be done with the Depot.
