It is fortunate that one of the old railroad depots remains as the showpiece of an era gone by to help us collect, archive and display the historic gems of the past. Below are pictured the two Callahan depots that stood side by side from the early 1880s until the original passenger Florida Railroad depot on the left burned about 1917. The two railroads collaborated by doubling the size of the elevated freight depot on the right, adding a clerk's office and ticket sales windows and passenger waiting rooms for white and colored on the far end. It is this building that remains as the headquarters of the West Nassau Historical Society and West Nassau Museum of History.
A Florida Nonprofit 501(c)3 Tax Exempt Organization
Located Inside the Historic Train Depot at 45383 Dixie Avenue, Callahan
Mail to P.O. Box 1758, Callahan, FL 32011 (904-879-3406)
Proud members of Nassau County Chamber of Commerce
and Arts and Culture Nassau
Collection of WNHS
Looking northeast with Brandies Avenue to the left and Dixie Avenue to the right. Circa 1880-1890s.
Abner McGehee
This page was last updated: February 23, 2023
2021-2022 Officers
President:
Vice-President:
Treasurer:
Secretary:
The historic Callahan Train Depot
John Hendricks
Jerry Peterson
Emily Baumgartner
Kim Hoffecker
Members of the society and guests gathering before the April 24, 2014 membership meeting.
Click weather box to see extensive Callahan
area weather information.
Upcoming Events
Thursday, January 26, 6:30 pm Monthly dinner and meeting at the Callahan Depot.
Saturday, January 28, 10:30 am - 2:30 pm 11th Nassau Art at the Callahan Depot art show
Thursday, February 23, 6:30 pm Monthly dinner and meeting at the Callahan Depot.
Tue and Thu, Mar 7 and 9, 11a-1p Senior 55+ art classes
Friday, March 10, 6:30 pm Wearing of the Green Ice Cream Social and art reception. Thursday, March 23, 6: 30 pm Monthly dinner and meeting at the Callahan Depot.
Saturday, April 22, 9a-4p 18th Railroad Day Festival and Car Show
Thursday, April 27, 6: 30 pm Monthly dinner, meeting, elections at the Callahan Depot.
Thursday, May 25, 6: 30 pm Monthly dinner, meeting at the Callahan Depot.
Saturday in June, date and time TBA Callahan History walking tour
DINNER AND GENERAL MEETINGS ARE HELD INSIDE THE CALLAHAN TRAIN DEPOT ANNEX
Copyright 2014 by the WNHS.
The depot sat in this, its second location, for generations. This is the southeast corner of the intersection of CSX's north-south double track and the old Florida Railroad line that went in front of Brandies Hardware. In the 1980s, it was acquired by the historical society and underwent a $100K renovation. This end of the depot was built in 1881 of Victorian architecture. The lower opposite end was built circa 1910 and became the passenger waiting rooms and agent's office.
Before Restoration
Board of Directors of the West Nassau Historical Society 2021-2022.
L-R: Emily Baumgartner, Kim Hoffecker, Marge Powell; Jerry Peterson,
Liz Mobley; John Hendricks, Elton Steptoe, Frank Geoghagan,
2021-2022 Board of Directors
Collection of WNHS
SPECIAL THANKS TO THESE SUPPORTERS
Golden Spike level
CSX Transportation
Okefenoke Rural Electric Co-op Foundation
First Baptist Church of Callahan
Town of Callahan
Rayonier
WestRock
Silver Spike level
Bob Eubanks - Rusty Acres
Anchor Church
Schwend Insurance
AA Bottle Gas and Fuel
Brandies Ace Hardware
West Fraser. Inc.
Arts and Culture Nassau
Bronze Spike Level
Davis Dodge Chrysler Jeep Ram
Vystar Credit Union
Southeastern Bank
CORPORATE MEMBERS
West Nassau Historical Society Select March 7 and 9 for Their Two Senior Citizens Art Classes to be Held at Callahan Train Depot
West Nassau Historical Society press release (January 6, 2023)
The West Nassau Historical Society is pleased to announce the offering of two art classes for senior citizens age 55 and over to be held this March. Each class will be held at the historic Callahan Train Depot annex at 45383 Dixie Avenue. Art supplies will be provided by the Historical Society. A signed entry form and nominal fee are required for each participant to attend the classes.
These two classes will be held from 11a to 1p on Tuesday, March 7 and Thursday, March 9 and will be taught by talented Nassau County artist and instructor Ed Mosher. Ed began painting as a young child and has been sharing his impressions of nature through art ever since. He and his wife have resided on Amelia Island for over 30 years and Ed is an active part of the Plantation Artists' Guild and Gallery since its early beginnings.
Class fees are $15 for one class or $25 for both classes. Class sizes are limited so preregistration is required. A registration form is available from the West Nassau Historical Society website www.wnhsfl.org or by calling 904-879-3406. Mail the completed form with payment to the West Nassau Historical Society on the address on the form. A $2 handling fee will be added to debit and credit card payments. The finished artwork will be exhibited during the Wearing of the Green Ice Cream Social on Friday, March 10, from 6:30 pm to 8 pm at the Callahan Train Depot. Joel Pace Piano and Music students will be preforming during this 90-minute exhibition. Admission to this Friday night reception is free and open to public, but donations are kindly accepted. The West Nassau Historical Society is an all-volunteer nonprofit dedicated to the promotion of history and culture in Nassau County, Florida. Funds for these classes are made possible in part from a grant from Arts and Culture Nassau, an advocacy group for the arts and cultural events county wide.
The West Nassau Historical Society is an active member of Arts and Culture Nassau, an advocacy of the arts throughout Nassau County. For more info, visit..
General meetings
4th Thursdays of each month
at the historic Callahan Train Depot
6:30 pm pot luck
7:00 pm meeting
Admission is free and open
to public but donations
are gladly accepted
WELCOME
The West Nassau Historical Society is an all-volunteer 501c3.
To donate to our group, call us today. 904 879-3406,
We welcome you to our Internet site and hope to introduce you to what we have to offer at our historic Callahan depot headquarters and museum within the depot. We are in our 43rd year of caring about the future of our past. We are an all-volunteer organization looking for like-minded individuals and businesses who share our interests. Download a membership application below and join us in celebrating and preserving our rich and diverse history. Though we are located at the historic Callahan Train Depot in the heart of western Nassau County, we like our colleagues from the Yulee Historic Council and Amelia Island Museum of History, are interested in ALL of our county's history. However, our primary focus is on the western half of the county: from the banks of the tea-colored St. Marys River to Thomas Creek, from the towns of Bryceville, Boulougne, Callahan, and Hilliard to the ghost towns of Italia, Dyal, Crawford, and Gross and the vast timberlands that lay in between.
The historical society's theme is aimed at the history of the railroad which opened up the interior of Nassau County and much of the rest of the wilderness of the south and west. David Yulee's Florida Railroad began at new Fernandina, was finished through central Nassau County by mid-1856 and completed to Cedar Key by 1861. 
