Toledo, Ann Arbor and Northern Michigan Railway Depot, interior ca. 1973

416 South Ashley #2

Toledo, Ann Arbor and Northern Michigan Railway Depot, interior ca. 1973

Passenger service fell victim to competition from the automobile and air travel and it ceased on July 19, 1950. Although freight service continued, the depot was boarded up for several years, after which it had a succession of uses as a beer warehouse, a night club, a restaurant, a boutique, and a kitchen-counter business. It has been the Law Montessori School since the mid-1980s.

The building is a clapboard structure with a long hipped roof and a wide overhang supported by ornamental wooden brackets. The side facing the tracks is actually the principal facade although the Ashley Street entrance is now the main entrance. The interior spaces of the original waiting room are remarkably well preserved, despite the many previous tenants. The room retains its aura of elegance created by 15-foot ceilings and three tiers of wall paneling. Deeply incised mantel brackets accent the fireplace and in the area just beyond the entry is a 15-foot wide wooden archway with columns capped by carved floral designs.

The depot was beautifully restored to its current condition in 1985 by the Law Montessori School.