My Visit to the 1881 Potter Street Station

I was recently able to visit Potter Street Station and take some photos of the 136-year-old railroad building, unfortunately, due to its poor condition I was not able to go inside. The station was originally known as the Flint & Pere Marquette Union Station, now commonly known as the Potter Street Station, is a railroad station that built in 1881 and located at 501 Potter Street in Saginaw, Michigan. The station was designed by New York City architect, Bradford Lee Gilbert and featured huge pillars, soaring stairways and, true to the time period, separate waiting rooms for men and women. The station is 285 feet by 40 feet with 2½ stories and is to this very day Michigan's second largest depot.

Unfortunately, by 1947, the Flint and Pere Marquette was gone, having been merged to form the Pere Marquette Railway in 1900. Not long after it was purchased by the Chesapeake and Ohio Railway. In 1950 the C&O railway discontinued passenger service in Saginaw.

In 1955, C&O had plans to demolish the building with the intention of using the land for new offices and a warehouse. This never happened and thus, the station was used as a crew base for many years up until 1986. Then in 1986 CSX Transportation, C&O's new owners closed the station.

Today Potters Street Station It is currently vacant and owned by a non-profit organization called The Saginaw Depot Preservation Corporation (SDPC). Unfortunately, on April 16th, 1991 the station was involved in an arson fire that did a considerable amount of damage, especially to the roof. The SDPC was able to obtain a grant from MDOT to have the roof repaired in 1993, however, the repairs did not happen until 1998. The SDPC continues to apply for grants to stabilize and preserve the station. It is unknown if this part of Saginaw, Michigan history will be able to be saved. Lack of funding and the decaying structure makes it a massive undertaking that only time will tell. The station was added to the National Register of Historic Places on November 29, 1996.

In 2007 a $1 million renovation grant was provided by the Department of Housing and Urban Development though the funds have allegedly been reduced by half and as of right now the SDPC has yet to receive the remainder of the grant to this day.

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In 2012 “A Haunting on Potter Street” the third of the Seekers Paranormal Investigation Team’s exploration of Saginaw’s haunts takes place. The Potter Street episode takes Steve “Prozak” Shippy, Tim Rooney, Adam Eugenio and Harno over to Potters Street Station to investigate what was once a grandiose icon along Saginaw’s riverfront. Shippy says they spent about 16 nights in the station, but the film focuses on a single stay, creating from the 30,000-square-foot structure a precise picture of what’s taking place when the lights go down. The SPI Team has documented what they believe is the evidence of paranormal activity during their investigation. “A Haunting on Potter Street” can currently be seen on Youtube and is being sold by DVD.

In 2017 the building is still in a state of disrepair and is crumbling more and more as the months go by.

Thank you to all of you who have been taking the time to read this blog, upvote and comment!

~NP

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