Home | West Nassau Historical Society | West Nassau Museum of History

It is fortunate that one of the old railroad depots remains as the showpiece of an era gone by to help us collect, archive and display the historic gems of the past. Below are pictured the two Callahan depots that stood side by side from the early 1880s until the original passenger Florida Railroad depot on the left burned about 1917. The two railroads collaborated by doubling the size of the elevated freight depot on the right, adding a clerk's office and ticket sales windows and passenger waiting rooms for white and colored on the far end. It is this building that remains as the headquarters of the West Nassau Historical Society and West Nassau Museum of History.

A Florida Nonprofit 501(c)3 Tax Exempt Organization

Located Inside the Historic Train Depot at 45383 Dixie Avenue, Callahan

Mail to P.O. Box 1758, Callahan, FL 32011 (904-879-3406)

Proud members of Nassau County Chamber of Commerce, Westside

Chamber of Commerce and Nassau Council of Arts and Culture

Collection of WNHS

Looking northeast with Brandies Avenue to the left and Dixie Avenue to the right. Circa 1880-1890s.

Abner McGehee

This page was last updated: May 3, 2026

The historic Callahan Train Depot

Home

2026 Railroad Day Festival

Smithsonian Food Exhibit

Daniel Callahan

2026 NACD Art Show and Past Art Shows

2026 Callahan Christmas Parade and Craft Fair

Two Senior 55+ Art Classes

Nassau County History

Smithsonian Food Recipes

Our Museum of History

Past Railroad Days Photos

Honoring our Donors and Supporters

Links

Guest Book

The depot sat in this, its second location, for generations. This is the southeast corner of the intersection of CSX's north-south double track and the old Florida Railroad line that went in front of Brandies Hardware. In the 1980s, it was acquired by the historical society and underwent a $100K renovation. This end of the depot was built in 1881 of Victorian architecture. The lower opposite end was built circa 1910 and became the passenger waiting rooms and agent's office.

Before Restoration

2025-2026 Officers

President: John Hendricks

Vice-President: Jerry Peterson

Treasurer: Emily Baumgartner

Secretary: Kim Hoffecker

2025-2026

Board of Directors

West Nassau Historical Society

Emily Baumgartner

Linda Conley

John Hendricks

Janet Homann

Kim Hoffecker

Jerry Peterson

Marge Powell

Jeanne Scott

Elton Steptoe

Collection of WNHS

SPECIAL THANKS TO THESE

SUSTAINING MEMBERS

CORPORATE MEMBERS

Amanda Ream, Editor

Nassau County Record 904 879 2727

Golden Spike Level

Florida Power and Light

CSX Transportation

Okefenoke Rural Electric Co-op Foundation

First Baptist Church of Callahan

Town of Callahan

Simply Healthcare

Rayonier

WestRock

Silver Spike Level

Bob Eubanks

Anchor Church

Schwend Insurance

AA Bottle Gas and Fuel

Hagan Ace Hardware

West Fraser. Inc.

Nassau Council of Arts and Culture

Meridian Waste

Joel Pace Piano and Music

Bronze Spike Level

Vystar Credit Union

Southeastern Bank

First Federal Bank

General Meetings

4th Thursdays of each month

at the historic Callahan Train Depot

6:30 pm meal

7:00 pm meeting

Admission is free and open

to public but donations

are gladly accepted

The West Nassau Historical Society is an all-volunteer 501c3.

To donate to our group, call us today: 904 879-3406

or click here to download a donation form to mail in to us with check.

We welcome you to our Internet site and hope to introduce you to what we have to offer at our historic Callahan depot headquarters and museum within the depot. We are in our 43rd year of caring about the future of our past. We are an all-volunteer organization looking for like-minded individuals and businesses who share our interests. Download a membership application below and join us in celebrating and preserving our rich and diverse history.

Though we are located at the historic Callahan Train Depot in the heart of western Nassau County, we like our colleagues from the Yulee Historic Council and Amelia Island Museum of History, are interested in ALL of our county's history. However, our primary focus is on the western half of the county: from the banks of the tea-colored St. Marys River to Thomas Creek, from the towns of Bryceville, Boulougne, Callahan, and Hilliard to the ghost towns of Italia, Dyal, Crawford, and Gross and the vast timberlands that lay in between.

The historical society's theme is aimed at the history of the railroad which opened up the interior of Nassau County and much of the rest of the wilderness of the south and west. David Yulee's Florida Railroad began at new Fernandina, was finished through central Nassau County by mid-1856 and completed to Cedar Key by 1861.