Pulaski train station rises from the ashes
After a fire destroyed a train station in Pulaski, Va. four years ago, the community came together to for its restoration.
By Sara Cline
November 20, 2013
By Sara Cline
November 20, 2013
PULASKI, Va.-- On November 17, 2008, the Pulaski Railway Station caught on fire.
The the structure of the station was completely destroyed because of the buildings old electrical wiring.
The station, also know as a "Depot," used to hold the Raymond F. Ratcliffe Memorial Museum. Many antique pieces donated to the museum by citizens of Pulaski were lost.
Citizens of the Town were devastated.
"Pulaski was going to be the Pittsburg of the south," said Ty Kirkner, a curator at The Ratcliffe Transportation Museum. "This fire ruined the opulence of Pulaski."
Residents of Pulaski know that the Town is no stranger to fires. The transportation museum has an entire wall dedicated to fires in Pulaski, dating back to 1958.
Five years later, the Town has recovered from the fire yet again. Volunteers and museum employees spent months salvaging and restoring any and every useable artifact. Some surviving artifacts were moved to the brand new transportation museum, located right across the street from the Depot.
The station itself was restored by architects from Winston Salem and South End Construction, a company located in Roanoke.
A poster in the Ratcliffe Museum has a quote from Pulaski Mayor Jeff Worrell that summarizes the Town's spirit and ability to recover from disasters: "But should anyone wonder if we'll ever fully recover from this disaster, I would simply ask you to look at this beautiful train station. It was destroyed, and we built it back better than before. And we'll build this community back, better than before."
Pulaski may appear disaster prone, but they have shown multiple times that they always recover.