Dear Readers, We drove back to Murphysboro after poking around in Oraville. We were headed for a famous BBQ restaurant, which my brother Hardy had suggested we visit for dinner. We parked in the large lot of a soft ice cream shop and walked across the street to the restaurant.
During our fabulous dinner, I asked the waitress to help us find the historical Murphysboro train depot.
“Where are you parked?” asked the waitress.
“At the DQ lot,” I said.
“Just walk past your car and it will be on the corner right in front of you. Some contractor is restoring the building,” she said with a friendly smile.
We walked back after dinner and there it stood. Construction equipment everywhere. Two story brick, second story windows gone. First floor lovely but primitive stained glass windows all still in place. I stared at these a long time, knowing they would be significant to Blanche. I looked inside through the windows to piles of construction debris. There was no way to get into the building….probably nailed shut. I looked around outside the building, and could still see the trace of the railroad easement in two directions, heading out of town.
I hope this lovely historical building will soon come back to life in Murphysboro.
The building definitely came to life in Chapter # 3.