LOXLEY, Ala. — The Museum of Loxley marked a milestone in the city’s history Thursday with the unveiling of a commemorative marker honoring the former Louisville and Nashville Railroad Depot, a site that once anchored the growth of the small Baldwin County community.
The ceremony drew local officials and residents to the site of the former depot, where speakers reflected on the outsized role the railroad played in shaping Loxley more than a century ago. Mayor Richard Teal and State Rep. Donna Givens both addressed the gathering, highlighting the town’s origins and the significance of preserving that history for future generations.
During the ceremony, Givens, R-Loxley, donated two items to the museum’s permanent collection. The first was a pair of vintage hats from two Loxley-based companies, R.M. Black Jr. Produce Inc. and Dean Black Truck Line, which had been in her family’s possession. The second was a desk from the Alabama State Capitol that Givens used during legislative sessions, and that was used before her by her predecessor in the district, Harry Shiver.
The project was made possible through an America 250-Alabama Semi-Quincentennial Community Grant, part of a statewide initiative supporting local projects tied to the nation’s upcoming 250th anniversary. The Museum of Loxley applied for and received the grant to fund the new marker.
Kim Marsh, curator of the Museum of Loxley, said the depot was far more than a stop along the tracks — it was the gateway through which many of the town’s earliest settlers arrived.
“They came in on the railroad from many different places in the United States in those early days and the beginning, like settling days, and they would come, step out onto the depot platform and the first thing they would see would be the old Loxley Hotel that was right across the street,” Marsh said. “So the L&N Railroad depot that was once here symbolizes so many things going back to that time period.”
According to Marsh, the depot served as the first glimpse of Loxley for many founding families, who traveled from across the country to settle in the area. The image of stepping off the train and seeing the Loxley Hotel across the street has become part of the community’s oral history, illustrating how central the rail line was to the town’s identity in its earliest days.
The former depot site sits next to the old Loxley Farm Center, which the museum now uses to store and display artifacts and pieces of local history that do not fit within the main museum building. The Farm Center itself carries its own history — it was originally constructed as a potato shed in the mid-1960s before later being repurposed.
The city of Loxley now owns the Loxley Farm Center, which has since been converted into a civic meeting space used for community gatherings and events.
Following the marker dedication ceremony, visitors were invited to tour the old Loxley Farm Center, getting a firsthand look at the artifacts and historical items the museum has preserved from the railroad era and beyond.
The new marker joins a growing number of historical designations across Baldwin County recognizing sites tied to the region’s railroad heritage, agricultural roots and early settlement history.