Historic Downtown

---

Downtown’s Other Depot

by D.A. Barber

ith the restoration of the Historic Southern Pacific train depot on Toole Avenue in full swing, Downtown supporters may forget it wasn’t the city’s only train stop.

What is now Garcia’s restaurant, at 419 E. Congress, was originally a depot for a passenger train line with origins in the transport of copper ore. A bronze plaque on the front of Garcia’s proclaims that the former train depot is recognized as an historical site by both the county and the state.

Built in 1889 by the Phelps Dodge Corp., the 36-mile Arizona & Southwestern Railroad transported copper from a smelter in Bisbee to a refinery in El Paso, Texas. With the rising use of electricity, demand for copper spiked.  To meet these demands for copper wire, Phelps Dodge replaced the smelter at Bisbee with a larger one at the newly formed town of Douglas, named after Dr. James Douglas, a prominent figure with the Copper Queen Mine. 

By 1901 the Arizona & Southeastern extended its line 25 miles southeast to Douglas to provide transportation to this new smelter. On June 25th, 1901 the Phelps Dodge Corp. formed El Paso & Southwestern Railroad Co. (EP&SW) and transferred over the properties of its Arizona & Southeastern Railroad.  EP&SW now stretched 291 miles from El Paso to Benson, and 40 miles of branch lines. Another branch to Tombstone was built in 1903. 

Growing copper demands led to more and larger smelter operations for Phelps Dodge and a growing need for coal and coke to operate these smelters. Extensions of the line continued through the early 1900’s, when EP&SW considered bypassing Tucson. But the City and the Chamber of Commerce convinced Phelps Dodge president Walter Douglas that Tucson wanted the train so badly, they were willing to give a depot site and right-of-way through the city at no cost. So, in October 1912 the EP&SW was extended from Benson to Tucson and passenger trains began running the following month. With completion of this railroad, El Paso and Tucson now had two railroad routes to follow: the Southern Pacific, built in 1881, and the EP&SW. 

The EP&SW depot at Congress and Granada was completed in December 1913 at a cost of $45,000. The wife of the president of Phelps Dodge had a hand in its design and the design of the adjacent 2 acre park.

Built of brick, terra cotta and cut stone, the depot contained a ticket office, two waiting rooms, a baggage room and two outdoor waiting areas. The main room of the passenger station opened to a rotunda 30 feet high and 20 feet wide with a stained glass dome. The roof was red Mexican tile and the porticos were supported by four columns each made of Indiana limestone. The Greek and Roman classical architecture was unique, not only for its time, but for a southwestern railroad station. And the station had the latest modern conveniences, including electric lights, running water and restrooms.

The adjacent triangular-shaped park east of the depot had several hundred exotic plants and a large fountain standing in the middle. From here, EP&SW operated passenger trains between Tucson and El Paso that included the Southwestern Flyer and the Drummer’s Special.

But following World War I, the price of copper began to drop and passenger traffic on the EP&SW was drastically reduced.  In an effort to focus on the copper production, Phelps Dodge made the decision to sell the EP&SW - by this time consisting of over 1,200 miles. Southern Pacific Co. (SP) purchased the railroad for about $64 million and took control November 1, 1924. Ten days later, SP closed the EP&SW depot, fenced the depot and adjacent freight station and transferred all traffic to the Toole Avenue depot.

Over the next 50 years the EP&SW depot went through a few changes, such as being used to store records for the hospital that was developed in the former freight station. In the late 1960’s the depot was home for meetings of the Model Railroad club. It was during this time ideas for either a railroad museum or a Spanish-American museum were both being floated. But SP wasn’t ready to let go of the structure and said it intended to preserve the depot and park as part of a multimillion-dollar commercial complex. But SP dropped the idea, so the depot sat dormant much of the 1970’s.

Finally, SP gave up the depot and it was purchased in 1976. Developer Allan J. Norville (whose offices are now located in the south wing of the former depot building) began renovation plans with an eye on drawing a restaurant. After some $700,000 in renovations, Norville - a former Chicago stockbroker - announced in 1978 that a Big Yellow House restaurant would soon open, but by May 1979 the deal fell through for lack of funds.

Finally in 1981 the building opened as a Carlos Murphy’s restaurant, which operated until it became Garcia’s Mexican Restaurant five years ago.

BACK