Sheridan Rotarians discuss restoring, moving old Monon depot back to town

This print made by Clovis Rudd shows the Sheridan Monon Depot in its heyday. (Art provided)

Sheridan Rotary had an interesting program recently concerning restoration of the old Sheridan Monon train depot and moving it back into town.

The depot was purchased by Jim Kinkead back in the 1970s after the Monon line was abandoned, and then dismantled and reassembled on his property along State Road 47 a couple of miles west of Sheridan. The Kinkead family would like to donate it back to the Sheridan community and the Sheridan Historical Society is cooperating with the Town of Sheridan to try to relocate and restore the Depot back inside the town limits.

Historical Society vice president and Rotary member Steve Martin gave a presentation outlining the status of the depot building and preliminary plans to bring it back to town. As you can imagine, there were lots of comments and questions from club members, and that was good because at present the Historical Society is seeking community input regarding locations for the depot, eventual use of the building and the extent of any renovations to be undertaken.

The Historical Society will begin holding community input meetings for interested citizens at 6:30 p.m. on Thursday, Aug. 5 at the Museum, located at 315 S. Main St. The Society hopes for a big turnout of this initial meeting.

Sheridan Rotary meets on the first and third Tuesday evenings at 6:15 p.m. with dinner and an interesting program. Most meetings take place in the Community Room of the Sheridan Public Library, but sometimes Rotarians meet off-site to accommodate program needs. If you would like to attend a meeting or want to know what the program is about, please contact any Sheridan Rotary member or email president-elect Steve Martin at shmartin1@comcast.net.

The program for Aug. 3 will feature local Sheridan artist Melinda Spear-Huff.