Brassfield Depot, 1964 Brassfield Road (State Route 499), Brassfield, Madison County, KY

1996 Charles E. Peterson Prize, Second Place
Significance: The Brassfield Depot is a combination passenger and freight railroad depot built circa 1893 to serve the small, rural community of Brassfield, Kentucky. Brassfield was established in 1891 as a stop on the Richmond, Nicholasville, Irvine & Beattyville Railroad, one of the earliest railroads to penetrate into the rich timber and coal regions of east-central Kentucky. The Depot was the center of the community, serving as a post office starting in 1893, a shipping point for agricultural products and livestock, and as a vital connection to the faraway cities of Louisville and Cincinnati. Since the removal of the tracks in 1932, the Brassfield Depot has remained as a symbol of the growth, prosperity, and freedom of movement the railroad brought to the residents of eastern Madison County, as well as the subsequent decline of the community following abandonment of the line. The Brassfield Depot is one of only two surviving station buildings on the sixty-one miles of line constructed by the Richmond, Nicholasville, Irvine & Beattyville Railroad between Versailles and Irvine, Kentucky, and is the only unaltered structure. It is a rare example of a once-common building type which is quickly disappearing from the rural landscape of Kentucky.
Unprocessed Field note material exists for this structure: N360
Survey number: HABS KY-265